AR: Those Who Fight - Chevalier Edition
by Katkiller-V
Summary: A compendium for AR VI - Chevalier. Will contain short stories about Nikita trying to settle into life on Illium with Liara and Garrus, Magnus living day by day on Xentha beneath Voya's watching eyes, and Cerberus and Alliance reports on everything from the Silver Blades to the state of the Terminus systems in the wake of the war. Newest Chapter: The Eclipse, History & Organization
1. Cerberus: Trena T'Laria

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

 _ **Those Who Fight – Chevalier Edition**_

 _Doing something a little different with this edition, namely it will actually recieve weekly updates alongside its parent story. In addition to the usual informational and reporting sections, it will also feature side-story additions from Nikita Korolev and Magnus MacKinnon's points of view. This story will update every week, typically very late on Mondays._

 _As usual, credit to Logical Premise for a lot of what he's done with Mass Effect cultures and biology. Using some of his work with permission, but I'm also modifying it heavily to match my own ideas about the ME-AR verse._

* * *

 **Cerberus Threat Index: Trena T'Laria**

Compiled by Mars Cell

Security Level Red

* * *

Illusive Man,

After hearing the reports coming out of the Lazarus Cell, I have elected to go ahead with this particular report ahead of schedule. Trena T'Laria is, after Cieran Kean, likely the most individually connected member of the Silver Blades corporation given her parentage. If anything were to happen to him, it is likely that she would be his successor in all senses of the word.

Operative Chambers

* * *

 **Basic Profile**

 _Name_ : Trena T'Laria

 _Species_ : Asari

 _Race_ : Illium Clanless, pureblood

 _Skin tone:_ Dark-Blue

 _Markings:_ None

 _Age_ : 356

 _Height_ : 5'1" / 1.54 m

 _Weight_ : 128 lbs / 58 kg

 _Eyes:_ Blue-Green

 _Homeworld_ : Illium

 _Parentage_ : Jona Sederis (father), Armenial T'Laria (deceased)

 _Siblings:_ None direct; numerous on father's side

 _Offspring:_ Ethanya T'Laraia

 _Languages Spoken_ : Low Batarian, High Batarian, Thessian Standard

* * *

 **Medical Analysis**

 _Chambers_

From a strictly physical perspective, T'Laria is a healthy young matron. Her only major medical complication is the lingering effects from a wound taken to her back during an engagement with the True Sons in 2180. While she has largely healed physically the blow largely destroyed the Asari equivalent of her ovaries, rendering her sterile. This hasn't seemed to effect her psychology, possibly due to her nature as an Asari allowing her to father children with her own species.

* * *

 **History and Psychological Profile**

 _Chambers_

Official records has T'Laria as the pureblooded daughter of Herala and Armenial T'laria; it is only in recent months that we were able to uncover messaging between the Silver Blades and the Eclipse indicating that her father is in fact Jona Sederis rather than Herala. It isn't known if she was aware of the deception, which was likely some form of agreement between Sederis and her 'parents' in an effort to conceal her existence from the Eclipse's numerous enemies.

In either case, T'Laria spent her formative years steeped in the Eclipse corporation during its own relative youth. Public records has her attending Eclipse training sessions, I-Sec sponsored competitions, and spending twenty years in one of Aethyta T'Voth's militaristic communes.

She is recorded as having passed her Eclipse initiation, but we have no firm evidence on how. The mostly likely crimes recorded by I-Sec in the right timeframe are the murder of a Volus businessman, the murder-suicide of two Salarian technicians, or a missing Turian couple who were presumed dead after vanishing on a camping trip north of Nos Astra.

I believe whatever her chosen victims, it seemed to effect her badly. From that point out, records having her as being both an alcoholic and extremely 'womanizing' amongst her own species. While she did tone down the drinking after perhaps a decade, all records still have her as being extremely active sexually.

Returning to her history, after passing initiation she was placed in command of a commando team, a position that she would go on to hold until Illium's Black Night incident. Her unit was primarily active in the spinward Terminus as enforcers and a policing team, ensuring that the lesser Asari warlords bowed to the rising power that was Sederis.

They were largely a 'clean' unit, a relative anomaly given the excesses that many high-end Eclipse units give in to, and achieved a notable reputation as a worthwhile sub-contracting option. They visited Council space on at least three occasions, all employed by Volus corporations as extra muscle against one another, though they took pains to never violate Citael law during those time periods.

Said Black Night incident caused her to leave the organization along with a great deal of other Eclipse sisters, though her pain was likely more significant than most. Her entire team, including a possible bondmate, were present in Sederis' mansion during the attack that razed it to the ground, causing her additional pain in addition to the loss of her parent's deaths and Sederis' rising instability.

All records of her vanish for nearly eighty years after this point, until she quietly opened a small mechanic's shop in the River District of Nos Astra. It was there that she met Cieran Kean, acting as his first employer. Something seems to have clicked between them during that short time, with the pair becoming all but inseparable until Kean's exile.

Currently I would characterize her as mentally stable, and despite her apparent uncouth nature as being highly supportive of what friends she has. This may be a legacy effort from her former team, or perhaps it is merely in her nature. In either case, to her enemies or those who would harm her companions, she is extremely dangerous. This is not an inexperienced being when it comes to dealing with violence and loss, and the same kind of psychological blows that General Petrovsky recommends against the other Blades will likely not have any short-term effect.

* * *

 **Biotic Capability**

 _Chambers_

In terms of her biotics, T'Laria appears to have inherited only a moderate quantity of her father's legendary talent. This is still more than sufficient to push her far beyond the usually moderate reserves seen in other Illium clanless, something she seems to enhance by having vastly above-average levels of control.

This finesse, some levels of power she has shown, and her general fighting style, all seem to be extremely similar to her half-sister Leska Sederis, possibly indicating that the pair trained routinely during their time together in the Eclipse. Further, Operative Leng reported her usage of a warpfire lance on Omega during their engagement with Tazzik, along with reasonable if not extreme talent with an Asari short sword.

 _Singularity –_ I-Sec recordings from the True Son conflict show a stable utilization of singularities, primarily employed in what Operative Lawson calls flank-control methods. Apparently it is a common battlefield control technique used to prevent enemies from moving in a direction, while avoiding the problem of the singularity warping gunfire trajectories.

 _Warpfire –_ Until her engagement with Tazzik, we had no open recordings of her utilizing this biotic talent. Operative Leng's helmet camera recorded her flinging traditional 'gouts' during the initial engagement, followed by a two-second duration 'lance' that removed Tazzik's right arm and would have likely killed him had he not partially dodged.

 _Stasis –_ I-Sec records have her using this technique to imprison captives for short periods of time.

 _Throw/Pull –_ We have no known mass limitations for her throws or pulls, but they are likely within normal parameters for an Asari of her age and parentage. As with her other powers, there seems to be very little wasteful expenditures of energy.

 _Charge –_ Oddly, we have no known records of her using any known charge / flash-step technique.

 _Barriers –_ Like most Asari, she is capable of throwing up a power curtain-barrier. Again, according to Operative Lawson, her relatively deep reserves make this a viable battlefield tactic in terms of covering her team's advance or their setup.

* * *

 **Unit Cohesion**

 _Lawson_

Her command style and tactics are largely unknown, save for historical instances now several centuries old. While she did fight in the Redcliffe campaign alongside the other Blades, her official role was as a riflemen and biotic support specialist. Further... apart from the sealed archives at the Xenthan Academy, there are no public recordings of the battles that took place on that planet.

It is likely that she played an important role in the fighting, but without evidence I cannot speak to her exact role. I would suggest it is likely that she acted as Kean's de-facto second in command, given ul Massa's injuries during that time, and that he likely still relies heavily on her for support.

Much like Shyeel T'Voth, killing her in a direct fight would likely be extraordinarily difficult. As Operative Chambers noted, she is unlikely to be affected in the middle of an engagement by combat losses, but her combat style is heavily reliant upon biotics which at least opens a method of attack.

Nullification grenades should be used liberally and often if she cannot be lured within range of an emplaced nullifier. After which, heavy weapons should be used to breach her light armor and cause sufficient damage to send her small body into shock ( _see medical reports on Asari vulnerability to hypovolemic shock)._

* * *

 **Threat Index**

 _Leng_

T'Laria is not Kean.

I feel the need to repeat that despite this medium.

Trena T'Laria _is not Cieran Kean._

Kean is a human trained in Batarian techniques. While he has heavily adapted his tactics based upon experience, and blended in SIU routines likely learned from Ayle ul Massa, any attempt to combat T'Laria's new team as one would engage Kean will likely end in a humiliatingly fast death.

 _Close Combat –_ Highly lethal. She is sufficiently adept with an Asari blade, and talented enough with her biotics to make close range combat a losing proposition for most enemies despite her diminutive stature. If barriers or shields are breached, a single warpfire lance would likely spell an immediate end to any engagement.

 _Rifle Range –_ Unlike Kean, she is at her most dangerous at short-to-mid ranges where she will be able to utilize her full biotic talent in addition to ranged weaponry. She will most likely utilize her biotics to control her target while she hammers at their protection. Once they are vulnerable to direct attacks, warpfire would likely end the engagement at once.

 _Defenses –_ Like the other Lancers, she seems to prize maneuverability over extreme levels of armor. This plays into her commando-huntress fighting patterns, giving her maximum agility in close quarters and good speed when shifting between covered positions.

* * *

 _ **End Report**_

* * *

 _Figured I would start off with the reports I promised in the last Those Who Fight. We'll also be hitting Ghai and Ayle next, while the newer Lancers will likely come later. Once these first three chapters are done, we'll move onto the side-POV chapters that I promised above. Likely a three-chapter section from Magnus's POV about life on Xentha and what Shyeel and Voya are up to, followed by a similar length section from Korolev's and what they're doing._

 _Credit to GreaterGoodIreland for the name of Trena's 'father'._

 _ **Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."**_

 _ **P a treon Zach_K2V**_

 _Thanks, Kat_


	2. Cerberus: Cieran Kean

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

 **Cerberus Threat Index: Cieran Kean, Update**

Compiled by Mars Cell

Security Level Red

* * *

Illusive Man,

As per your request, I have updated Cieran Kean's file based upon the information that has come in over the past year and a half, including the information uncovered on Xentha. Further additions have been made by the war-stories and rumors from the Redcliffe campaign, the operation on Benihi, and the Invasion of Omega.

Operative Chambers

* * *

 **Basic Profile**

 _Name_ : Cieran Kean (Alternatively; Cieran ul Kean, Ciarán MacKinnon)

 _Species_ : Human

 _Sex_ : Male

 _Race_ : Caucasian

 _Age_ : 31

 _Height_ : 6'1"

 _Weight_ : 165-175 lbs

 _Hair:_ Brown

 _Eyes:_ Green

 _Homeworld_ : Aberdeen, European Union, Earth

 _Parentage_ : Charlotte MacKinnon, Alexander Montgomery (likely)

 _Siblings:_ Alexis MacKinnon, Magnus MacKinnon, Adrianna MacKinnon (Asari)

 _Languages Spoken_ : Low Batarian, High Batarian, Thessian Standard, English, Khellish

 _Sign Languages_ : Khellish

* * *

 **Medical Analysis**

 _Chambers_

Kean is noted has having been very badly wounded during the engagement with Ganar. Video of the engagement has been made public by Aria, likely to remind everyone that Kean bows to her despite the fact that he killed her primary rival. EVA's combat suite detailed the full list of injuries after viewing it, and its likely that he required a large amount of repair work internally.

Given that Operatives Lawson and Leng didn't notice any lingering effects when they spoke to him on Omega during Lazarus Cell's operation there, it is probable that Aria spared little expense in repairing him in exchange for his killing of Ganar. Unfortunately, neither they nor the twins were able to isolate any 'upgrades' he might have received during the process, but admit that it is highly likely that he received at least some cybernetic reinforcement.

* * *

 **History**

 _Chambers_

Thanks to Thoth's Cell's operation on Xentha, we finally have a reasonably clear picture of his life prior to his arrival on Illium.

His mother, Charlotte MacKinnon, was a rebellious member of an extremely strict family, and during said rebellion became pregnant at the extreme age of fifteen. The father is officially unknown, but facial and body analysis indicates that the most likely candidate is a fellow youth named Alexander Montgomery (currently employed as a lawyer in Edinburgh). Her family's refusal to allow her to terminate the pregnancy was likely one of _many_ factors that caused her to run away from home a year after giving birth.

The pair spent several years rotating between several colonies as MacKinnon took odd jobs of dubious legality, before she accepted a post on the pirate vessel _Cinder_ in the wake of the First Contact War. They spent the following five years aboard the vessel as it ranged as far as Xentha in the Terminus, and the nearer reaches of the Dark Rim. After an engagement in the coreward Terminus, the ship was sufficiently damaged that the Captain ordered several members of his own crew sold into slavery to pay for repairs, including Ciarán MacKinnon.

Fortunately for him, his mother evidently conspired with a Batarian crewmember, Ashen ul Kean, to free him immediately after his sale. While MacKinnon jumped ship to take a position in the Lady Warlord's army, Ashen took the young man into Celthani to attempt to make a life. She changed his name to Cieran ul Kean, likely as some kind of declaration of possession against his mother, and opened a small mechanic's shop.

Details become extremely hazy for the next fourteen years, largely due to Celthani's utter lack of public record. Rumor and hearsay have the pair as being very close and running their shop with a quiet efficiency that made them fairly well regarded, but we have little to no details on their personal relationship. One of the many gang wars that periodically sweep through the city ended their simple lives, with Ashen being killed in the fighting and Kean being discovered as a 'runaway slave'.

The two years after his resale into slavery again passed without notable records, until his owner's sudden death in 2178, along with his entire family and staff. Officially this was due to a catastrophic fire and structural failure of his gaudy mansion, unofficially it was due to a Nightwind attack to eliminate on of T'Ravt's main arms manufacturers... likely supported by an inside agent. Kean was evidently extracted from the planet with them, and once again disappeared for several years before abruptly appearing on Illium.

This is the crucial time period, both for himself as well as us. By his own admission, and I believe that he tells the truth, he has no idea what Matriarch T'Ravt did to him between October 2178, and his 'awakening' on Illium in March of 2180. Whatever it was damaged his memory badly, though not to the degree that he usually lets on. After speaking with him on Xentha, I believe that most of his _direct_ memories are gone, but many of his behavioral patterns remained or quickly re-emerged.

In either case we have no real answer as to just how much he knows, how much he disseminated to others, or how Matriarch T'Ravt infiltrated our organization to such a depth to begin with.

From this point on, the prior file's have the relevant details of his more recent activity.

* * *

 **Psychological Profile**

 _As discussed between Operative Lawson and Operative Chambers_

 _Lawson:_ Updating his psychological profile? I suppose that is logical after recent events.

 _Chambers:_ The Illusive Man thought so. Now, during either of your encounters with him, did you notice anything outside of the norms we expected from our prior analysis?

 _Lawson:_ He nearly killed General Petrovsky in front of me.

 _Chambers:_ Right... apart from that.

 _Lawson:_ I believe that if Illyan T'Donna had not survived the wounds the Justicar inflicted on her, that none of us would have survived. I'm sure he would have found a technical reason to consider it not a violation of his word, much as he did when he kept the data they took as 'payment'.

 _Chambers:_ Yes... that was very Xenthan of him. Technicalities and the exact letters of the agreement are a large focus for that particular culture. It is possible that his time on that world awoke some buried memories.

 _Lawson:_ Or his subconscious simply readopted cultural cues.

 _Chambers:_ Also possible. Any other observations?

 _Lawson_ : ...the Illusive Man and the General underestimated his paranoia, and the lengths he was willing to go to ensure that we had no ability to double-cross him. Considering that that was already an aspect of his personality that we were aware of, I think it merely bears being highlighted. And unlike Operative Genosa, they also underestimated his knowledge of our internal workings.

 _Chambers:_ What do you mean? That he knew about you?

 _Lawson:_ Less his detailed knowledge of my past, more the fact that he and the Quarian worked out that EDI was attempting to infiltrate their systems based on nothing more than a comment from us, and she immediately had the ship's communications systems forced into hard reset before isolating them. The General's primary and secondary plans both relied on partial hacking success.

\- pauses -

 _Lawson:_ He also quite accurately deduced the Illusive Man's influence in directing Justicars to the planet.

 _Chambers:_ Yes... I heard you argued with him on that subject after you returned.

 _Lawson:_ This meeting is not about my disagreement with him.

 _Chambers:_ Of course. Back to Kean, would you say that he was different during your second encounter on Omega?

 _Lawson:_ His body language had undergone a minute shift, away from Batarian posture and towards something more Asari, but his personality remained much the same in the short conversations I held with the man.

 _Chambers:_ Possibly a sign that the Batarian influence is waning with fewer of them directly involved in his life?

 _Lawson:_ By your own analysis he reflexively adopts the cultures and societal cues of those near him, and he has spent most of the past year solely in the company of two Asari and a Terminus Quarian.

 _Chambers:_ True, but the Batarian influence remains the strongest upon him, it is likely it would take more than a few years to completely rid him of it. Moving on, did you notice any other shifts?

 _Lawson:_ He was more tunnel-visioned than I expected once engaged. Further... he had a very odd combination of attitudes towards the local population. As far as he was concerned, there was no issue executing everyone we found within the mansion, and yet he refused to do the same to others once we were in the city.

 _Chambers:_ He did state that he believed everyone within the building to be indoctrinated or opposed, yes?

 _Lawson:_ Yes, but there was no attempt to confirm that by way of interrogation or observation. He directly stated before we even began that we would be 'operating by the SIU playbook', and executing everyone in a fairly terroristic fashion. He simply assumed that everyone inside, who wasn't an obvious prisoner, would be an enemy and treated them as such.

 _Chambers:_ I see... I'm assuming Kai Leng approved when he was told.

 _Lawson:_ Quite. In either case, it was a harsher aspect to his personality than I anticipated.

 _Chambers:_ Really? I believe it to be fairly in line with his past experiences fighting the Blood Pack and True Sons. Showing mercy to either is generally... not the wisest course if one wants to survive. And you said that he refused to engage lethal action within the city itself?

 _Lawson:_ He was very adamant on that.

 _Chambers:_ Interesting. How did he seem to handle being in a command position?

 _Lawson:_ In which instance?

 _Chambers:_ Both.

 _Lawson:_ On Benihi, it seemed to be wrapped up in his focus on capturing his target, and his paranoia regarding us. He made sure to keep me close at all times, I believe to ensure that I had no chance to act independently, and despite his words to the General regarding who would have control over what aspect, made no move to rein in his subordinates when they acted contrary to orders.

 _Chambers:_ But how did he seem to handle being in command?

 _Lawson:_ He was... adequate? Blunt and direct perhaps, and I doubt he is the type to give motivational speeches, but I suppose he's capable enough. His main asset in both instances seemed to be his willingness to delegate.

 _Chambers:_ To whom?

 _Lawson:_ His Asari Captain quite clearly commanded her ship, I never saw him issue anything besides vague directives to her. Further, from what public traffic we were able to record on Omega, he is already bringing in a skilled Colonel from Warlord T'Rav'ts army to lead his ground troops, and has assigned a capable Asari commando to take his place as a black-ops leader. Most of the transmissions EDI recorded were generic, but they seemed to point to him acting in a very hands-off fashion.

 _Chambers:_ Interesting... he has always seemed to have an aversion to taking direct power, ever since his time on Illium. I'll admit that it is strange that he continues to hold onto that aversion considering the climate.

 _Lawson:_ For a man with an aversion to controlling assets, he has accumulated a great many over the past few years.

 _Chambers:_ Definitely a contradiction... and important somehow. I severely wish that the SIU hadn't interrupted our meeting on Xentha, I would have liked to talk with him a great deal more than I did. In either case, would you care to break for lunch?

* * *

 **Threat Index**

 _Kai Leng_

Redcliffe was the forge upon which Kean's combat ability seems to have been honed, and the Batarian ul Massa likely the guide who helped experience shape his combat tactics into something beyond the base Hegemony strategies that Shaaryak equipped him with. He is now far more aggressive and willing to advance than he once was, and his defensive stratagems have improved from adequate to exceptional.

Kean's current fighting style would best be described as a hybrid collection of modified Asari commando techniques inserted into an SIU technical specialist's general strategies. Like the former, and unlike most Human or Turian combatants, he will only rarely switch weapons once an engagement has begun, giving him the illusion of inflexibility. But where an Asari will utilize their biotics to counter this, he utilizes a broad array of grenades and technical mines to compliment whatever weapon he is utilizing at the time.

Like the latter, he has a fondness for 'shock' tactics that will abruptly change a battlefield in his favor. Important targets are quickly isolated and eliminated to behead formations when they make the mistake of approaching, and weak units are barraged with incendiary and heavy weapons to kill them as quickly as possible to lower morale and reduce the volume of incoming fire.

 _Small Arms:_ Kean appears to have stabilized on a three weapons system loadout, based upon the evidence from the Invasion of Omega. He has replaced his prior carbine with a custom made rifle, likely of his own design, and additionally has returned to carrying a submachine gun as well. However, his primary firearm remains his heavy pistol, which the only weapon he seems to have instinctive levels of accuracy with. Accuracy with the other weapons has improved to above average levels but that is likely his natural maximum.

 _Close Combat:_ I would like to engage in battle, or a spar, with him. Primarily utilize SIU issue war gauntlets as his weapon of choice, and is extremely skilled in their use. Is one of only four humans believed to have successfully solo killed a Krogan in close combat. Perhaps the most important consideration is that he does not fixate on his melee weapons, and will quite readily draw and utilize his hand cannon to immediately finish an engagement once the opponent is lured in close enough to sure an instant-kill. He is quite likely talented enough to eliminate all but the most skilled opponents if he can close to melee range.

 _Defenses:_ In the wake of Redcliffe, he has shifted entirely to light armor supplemented by the armored coat distinctive to his Lancer unit. This ensures a double layer of protection across most of his body while also ensuring that combat weight is kept low enough to not affect his mobility.

 _Support Equipment:_ Carries a technical launcher armed with incendiary and overload mines, in addition to a heavy grenade load-out including biotic nullifiers, Hegemony issue napalm bombs, and a variety of stun grenades. His most recent pick up is a Batarian submission net launcher, which he seems to utilize primarily as a direct counter to biotic charges. He is extremely proliferate in the usage of all these pieces, primarily using them to setup personal or allied kills, or otherwise control a battlefield.

* * *

 **Unit Cohesion**

 _Lawson_

As a member of his Lancer team, Kean acts as both the commanding officer as well as the unit's grenadier and engineering support. There is also a noted difference in his attitudes in an engagement when the fighting is personal to him, compared to when it is not. Further, he is the central piece to their team, and wounding him severely would likely immediately end the engagement as the other three would act to recover and retreat with him.

In the impersonal situation, he will be far more difficult to remove, but is also less personally threatening. He fights cautiously from short to medium range, utilizing a combination of direct strikes from tech mines along with box-barrages to isolate and setup targets for his companions to eliminate. Eliminating him should be done at long range, preferably with heavy sniper weapons loaded with phasic ammunition to bypass his armors' considerable shielding. If a direct kill is impossible, leg or gut shots should be considered to leave him combat ineffective.

If the fighting becomes personal, if one of his companions was killed for instance, his strategy would likely shift markedly towards something far more aggressive. In this case, standard control techniques would quickly lose their effectiveness, and it is likely he would have to be engaged in close combat. In that situation, agents should immediately withdraw to try and lure him to a kill zone.

In either circumstance, Phantom Cell operatives or Operative Kai Leng should be on hand in case he reaches close combat range.

* * *

 _ **End Report Update**_

* * *

 _And yes, I did forget about this chapter in the last TWF, so consider it a bonus one for this round. Ghai's report should still come out next Monday or Tuesday._

 _ **Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."**_

 _ **P a treon Zach_K2V**_

 _Thanks, Kat_


	3. Cerberus: Ghai T'Laria

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

 **Cerberus Threat Index: Ghai T'Laria**

Compiled by Mars Cell

Security Level Red

* * *

Illusive Man,

Hey bossman. Chambers thought I should handle this analysis for her, since this blue bitch spent most of her life in Hegemony space. Little surprised that she bolted after her old Tarath'shan's death, she'd served a good five generations of Shaaryaks before old Xerol got himself ventilated by his brother.

Analyst Angela Franks

* * *

 **Basic Profile**

 _Name_ : Ghai T'Laria

 _Species_ : Asari

 _Race_ : Nexian Clanless

 _Skin tone:_ Blue

 _Markings:_ None

 _Age_ : 634

 _Height_ : 5'6" / 1.67 m

 _Weight_ : 145 lbs / 66 kg

 _Eyes:_ Blue

 _Homeworld_ : Nexia

 _Parentage_ : Unknown

 _Siblings:_ Unknown

 _Offspring:_ Ethanya T'Laria

 _Languages Spoken_ : Low Batarian, High Batarian, Thessian Standard, Krogan Imperial

 _Sign Languages:_ SIU Cut-Speak, Batarian Warrior Standard

* * *

 **Medical Analysis**

 _Franks_

Right, the best news to come out of the entire True Son fiasco was the fact that she got her right hand blown off, and went into shock badly enough that she's probably still regenerating damage to her secondary nervous system even a couple of years later. That limits her biotic ability, and if she had to take a cybernetic replacement it might mean her regeneration is slowing a bit thanks to her age. She'll probably have to replace it at some-point, if she hasn't already.

Apart from that, not much to say. She's healthy enough to kill a fuck-ton of people if she has to. Did suffer a bad hit to her throat from something in the last years before her Tarath'shan got himself exiled, but I can't find any damned details on what did it. Had to have been fire or biotic, and very concentrated. Ruined the crap out of her voice, she supposedly barely rasps out words and only when she has to.

Has to suck for her, records say she used to sing in concert for the Hegemon back in her glory days.

* * *

 **History and Psychological Profile**

 _Franks_

Right, this Asari is basically everything that the rich bitch's on Thessia tell their daughters about the clanless from the Terminus. How they're basically just monsters disguised as Asari, who will rape, pillage, and murder sooner than bother talking with anyone. That ain't entirely true, even in this case, but it comes pretty damned close.

First records of an Asari calling herself Ghai come up about five centuries back, when a minor Meshinvi named T'Loar decided to start raiding Republic worlds. Since it happens every couple of decades, most of the details aren't all that important, T'Loar ended up dead when Thessia got off its blue ass and did something about the attacks. What is important is the fact that two Justicars ended up in the dirt, and as far as I can tell, Ghai did both of them in. By herself. As a fucking maiden.

She spent the next two centuries bouncing around as a freelance assassin in the Terminus and Traverse, and racked up quite a kill count in the process. Eventually she ended up partnering up with another Asari murder, named Iyate. They may or may not have crapped out each other's kids, impossible to tell given that they never really left the Terminus, but mostly we have Omega transactions of them offing minor warlords who pissed off the big boys.

Biggest score they had was knocking off a Salarian Spectre who tried to infiltrate the Conquest Yards. They got a lot of fame off that, but basically vanished for fifty years. What passes for news articles we dragged up suggest they were enjoying the spoils of victory, but a few old Krogan I talked to said that the Salarian damn near butchered them both, and it took them that long to pull themselves back together physically and mentally.

Definitely learned their damned lesson though, they turned down four more contracts to hunt the Council's pet psychos before vanishing again.

Council sources lose track of them around 1845, but Hegemony ones pick them up because they were involved in the first contact battles as the Terminus figured out there was someone new to attack. The two apparently saw a new market, joined a pirate band, then stabbed them all in the back during a raid on Khar'shan and offered their services to Patriarch Vensh Shaaryak.

He was old but not a damned idiot, and immediately hired them on, starting three more centuries of shit. Killing off rivals, protecting the current generation of their boss, sleeping with the current generation of their boss, abducting his rivals, killing rival heirs, you name it, they fucking did it. Hegemony records basically say the pair of them turned the Shaaryak family from a declining old power into a continual powerhouse.

They went with Xerol Shaaryak when his brother got them both exiled, and helped him work his way back into the Hegemony's good graces. After that, just follow the general reports on the Blades and Eclipse operations.

Right, psych shit. She's a fucking weird one. You'd expect someone with her past to be nothing but a vicious and cocky bitch, but everything I've found says she's fucking shy and extremely introverted. She picked up mind healing techniques from god knows fucking where, probably something to keep her and her partner sane considering some of the crap they did. Iyate apparently handled most of the talking and negotiations for them, and these days her new bondmate is doing the same.

* * *

 **Biotics**

 _Franks_

She never much used her biotics, even when she had them. It's part of what made her so damned dangerous to other Asari. Most of them rely entirely on their natural talent for both offense and defense, and she went ahead and trained herself to fight without the help in either category.

Still, she has them, or had them, no idea if she's repaired shit yet, but if she's got them back it'll broaden her arsenal. Her power and reserves aren't all that great, probably why she didn't rely on them. Here's the historical list.

 _Singularity:_ Stable and solid, unremarkable, but still good enough to cover part of a fight and screw things up.

 _Warp:_ Tosses the usual ball-like gouts of it around. Nothing remarkable but can still kill you just fine.

 _Barrier:_ Practically the second technique any Asari kid learns, figure she can throw one up.

 _Charge/Flash-Step:_ Was good at this one, used it to bounce around a fight to stay ahead of whoever was after her.

 _Throws/Pulls:_ Again, good at this crap. Mostly battlefield manipulation stuff, dragging cover around, ripping weapons away, that kind of thing.

 _Slam:_ Must have picked this one up from a Krogan. Hegemony records have her executing a rival Harath'krem by turning her into a blue stain on the ground.

 _Shockwave:_ More Hegemony records say she's pulled this one off, but the video and descriptions made it pretty tame. Still a goddamned shockwave though, probably learned it from the same Krogan who taught her the slam.

* * *

 **Threat Index**

 _Leng_

Analyst Franks requested that I analyze Kean's new second in command, and after watching several archived videos taken from the Hegemony, and reading reports from the same, I understand why.

This Asari is an assassin, plain and simple. She is also a capable combat leader, but is merely an adequate soldier.

Her kills were all meticulously planned, and often utilized specialist stratagems and weaponry likely prepared far in advance of the actual engagement. Any battle she was involved in was one where she knew her opponent as well or better than her opponent knew themselves. Even then, open combat was something she preferred to avoid at all costs, and she would sooner withdraw to make a second attempt rather than fight if such a retreat was practical.

 _Small Arms;_ Like a proper Asari of her age, she is at least adequately skilled with nearly every weapon type. As with most commandos, she will usually carry only one, perhaps two on her at any given time to minimize weight and maximize mobility. Her preference for whatever weapons suit her chosen target make determining a common pattern impractical, but exposes a vulnerability in that forces with mixed defenses will be more difficult for her to deal with.

 _Close Combat:_ If she is able to determine the time and placement of said engagement, you will be dead before you know that she is there. Disdains the use of a blade, odd for her kind, instead favors a hybrid Drell style.

 _Defenses:_ Has always preferred light armor that enables her to move quickly and quietly.

 _Assassination Methods:_ Poisoned food. Poisoned drink. Sniper rounds from all ranges. Vehicle bombs, both on the target and kamikaze types. Ambush attacks using biotics. Infiltration missions to cut sleeping throats. Placing venomous insects in a ventilation system. Crashing a cargo freighter into a mansion. Redirecting a GTS test to obliterate a shuttle. Replacing a pet with a disguised mech packed with explosives. Seducing a target and killing them mid-coitus.

I could continue, but I believe the point is made. Give her a target, and she will determine the appropriate method to eliminate it.

* * *

 **Unit Cohesion**

 _Leng_

While her partner was the most visible front-line combatant and bodgyard for the Shaaryak Patriarchs, Ghai was their primary commander for their troops. She is an efficient if unremarkable commander, tailoring her plans to best suit whatever troops she has on hand, but largely relying on tactically minded subordinates to handle the details while she focuses on logistics and grand strategy.

Her danger as a leader rises and falls depending upon the quality of her forces. Those who are already combat veterans will improve markedly as she handles details and allows them to properly focus, while those that are less capable will find themselves lacking direction that a more hands-on commander would be able to provide.

In terms of small unit tactics, any fight she is involved in must be one approached cautiously. If the engagement is obviously pre-planned, a retreat would be most advisable to avoid any potential tactics she might have designed. In the inverse, any attack upon a group involving her must be prepared for her to advise them to retreat if our own advantage is too obvious.

Attacks should thusly be sudden and overwhelming, or else planned in such a way as to make retreat impossible.

* * *

 **End Report**

* * *

 _And we finally get to see some, though not all, of Ghai's rather dark past._

 _ **Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."**_

 _ **P a treon Zach_K2V**_

 _Thanks, Kat_


	4. Cerberus: Ayle ul Massa

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

 **Cerberus Threat Index: Ayle ul Massa**

Compiled by Mars Cell

Security Level Red

* * *

Illusive Man,

Sir, as per your orders, Junior-Analyst DuFrane has been removed from Isis Cell for electing to forward Analyst Franks' report without properly editing the verbiage as he was ordered by Angela. While I agree that some level of punishment was necessary, transferring a promising young man who made a mistake to Prometheus Cell seems wasteful to me. Surely a more measured response is called for? On that matter, I would again request even _basic_ knowledge of just what is happening within Prometheus. The rumors are decidedly unsavory, and internal morale is beginning to drop. I cannot reassure our people that what we are doing is for humanity's future if I personally don't know that.

Returning to the subject at hand, I accepted Angela's request to clean up her follow-up report on Executive Ayle ul Massa while she attempts to locate a new, properly qualified assistant.

Operative Chambers

* * *

 **Basic Profile**

 _Name_ : Ayle ul Massa

 _Age_ : 44

 _Height_ : 6'2"

 _Species_ ; Batarian

 _Sex_ : Female

 _Race_ : Delta Common

 _Caste_ : Warrior

 _Ranking_ : Midcaste Exile

 _Marital_ _Status_ : Single

 _Parentage_ : Resin Massa, Meshial Massa

 _Siblings_ : Seven; All non-Exiles

* * *

 **Medical Analysis**

 _Chambers_

Massa is the most injured of the original Silver Blades, a legacy of a bad encounter with Geth on Antibaar and a hard life in the Hegemony military. Her right arm is entirely prosthetic from the shoulder, while her right leg is at least thirty percent cybernetic. Her Hegemony medical records are rather fragmentary, and her status as an SIU supply operative makes them difficult to access even for EDI and EVA.

Our best guess is that several of her internal organs are likely cloned replacements due to recorded injuries fighting an STG team on Naru'shin, and that she likely has further internal augmentation as most SIU officers do. Analyst Frank's notes seem to indicate that there is a high probability that she has bone weaves, internal medigel dispensers, and armor plating inserted beneath her natural cartilage protection (likely explaining how she survived being shot twice by Geth type shotguns at point-blank range).

* * *

 **History**

 _Chambers_

Born on the Class A colony of Fen'shin as a middle child to a large midcaste family, what public records we have seem to indicate a young woman who angled herself to join the warrior cast from a very young age. She passed all of the traditional tests and was accepted into the caste at the age of fifteen, and was advanced into officer's training more or less immediately. As with most females, she was directed into the Hegemony's logistical and support arm.

Her next public appearance was at the age of twenty-two, when she applied for the title of _Hieth'sham,_ backed by the eldest Highborn priest of her homeworld. According to Franks, no non-biotic female has ever passed the tests, and Massa was no exception, though the public discourse indicated that she came very close. Her performance evidently impressed at least one SIU officer, as she was transferred to the SIU once she had recovered from injuries sustained during the trials.

At this point, virtually all of our records cease for nearly two decades and we have to rely on conjecture and hearsay from SIU engagements with the STG, Nightwind, and AIS.

Officially, any female should only have been involved in support and preparation work, but evidence seems to indicate that she was heavily involved in rear-line command and planning of the operations. The unit containing her showed developing tactics and shifts across several engagements throughout this time-frame, culminating in the chaos of the STG raid on Naru'shin. While most of her team was killed, and she herself badly wounded, her team was praised by the High Patriarch and held up as a badly needed public morale boost in the wake of the Skyllian Blitz.

Her team was transferred to the Dark Rim in the wake of the incident, likely to allow them to recover in lighter battles against pirates. This left them ideally positioned when the Blue Suns War broke out several years later.

Massa's promotion to _Harath'krem_ came during the fighting on the Blue Sun outpost world Somewhere, when a Legionnaire attack managed to breach the Hegemony's main lines and attack the forward command post. During the confused fighting that followed, she saved Patriarch-General Tulre Veshivan, and the grateful Highborn immediately claimed her into his house.

Whatever enjoyment she might have gained from that lasted barely a month, as Veshivan was assassinated by a freelance agent while she was directing a separate engagement. The new House Patriarch Poril Veshivan proved to be a staunch conservative and chauvinist, and had absolutely no use for an independent female who publicly rejected his demand that she abandon the warrior caste and subordinate herself to him. Blaming her for his father's death, he declared her _Reyja'krem_.

In this I have to agree with Franks in that this particular man was less than intelligent. He was found dead less than a week later, assassinated by Massa and a pair of soldiers she had claimed as her cadre. Orders to detain her were ignored by her old SIU team, and she was able to escape to the Terminus in advance of her formal exile for murder.

She spent roughly a year acting as an independent contractor alongside her cadre, primarily in the Lady Warlord's employ, before linking up and agreeing to reform the Silver Blades alongside the other warrior-type _Reyja'krem_ still alive within the Terminus.

* * *

 **Psychological Profile**

 _Chambers_

Based on what we know, Massa is about as stereotypical of a female Batarian as it is possible to be. She is blunt, forwards, extremely self-sufficient, and very openly enjoys what power she has been able to accumulate for herself. She is also highly controlling of her direct subordinates, and prefers to direct them towards situations she has no desire to become involved in as a means of displaying that she has sufficient power to ignore things beneath her.

Further, her relationships with Cieran Kean and Nynsi Shaaryak are likely extremely interesting behind closed doors. Shaaryak is ostensibly her social superior, yet Massa is recorded as being the 'senior' of the three Executive Commanders. The pair likely have to negotiate a social minefield in even casual conversation, with both likely involved in constant attempts to remind the other of their respective strength.

Her relationship with Kean is... intriguing to me. Despite the fact that she was out of commission for the entire Redcliffe campaign, Kean never attempted to usurp her place, and even today continues to publicly insist that Massa is actually the Silver Blades CEO despite the fact that Aria, Sederis, and the other major warlords all seem to regard him as being in that position.

I don't know if they have some kind of deeper personal relationship, but I would say that it is probable that Massa regards Kean _extremely_ highly for his refusal to even tactility admit that he has more power than her. Her reaction should he be harmed would likely be similar to his own when his lover was killed even if they are not together in the physical sense.

* * *

 **Unit Cohesion**

 _Lawson_

Massa largely commands in the manner of SIU officers, with similar planning schemes and strategies. She has begun to adapt these to integrate methods developed by the Lady Warlord's forces, along with lessons evidently learned on Redcliffe. It is relatively easy to see her influence on Kean and his own branch upon comparison, especially after developing combat plans with the man during the Benihi operation.

According to Analyst Franks, the SIU standard is to have four operational plans for any given situation, along with at least one retreat option. Plan one is typically the preferred option, and is the most cautious and least ambitious. Plan two is more aggressive and direct, with an emphasis on resolving the situation quickly. The third option often involves some kind of division of forces in order to flank and overwhelm an over-cautious target. The final main plan is the... Franks charmingly refers to it as the 'fuck it, destroy everything' plan.

Backup plans tend to be far more detailed and extensive than the primary four, with numerous options laid out in advance. This is likely a legacy of SIU experiences fighting the STG, with the Batarians always operating under the assumption that they would be out-thought and out-maneuvered in the moment, necessitating extensive preparation before the fighting began in order for them to have a reasonable chance of success.

As a large-scale unit commander, Massa appears to have simply scaled her small-scale tactics upwards, making her units oddly polymorphic by Batarian standards. They are still not at Alliance levels of adaptability or response time, much less Asari or Salarian, but her plans are far more adaptable than more rigid Hegemony standards, and that could take many opponents by surprise.

Personally, she seems to heavily manage her direct subordinates, but does not micro-manage beyond that rank. This is likely also true at the small-unit level, though we have next to no direct evidence of how she directed Kean while he acted as her XO.

* * *

 **Threat Index**

 _Lawson_

Massa is as dangerous as any other other SIU agent in terms of direct conflict, with the natural advantages and deficiencies of her species. She is a crack shot with most weapons, capable of absorbing injuries that would be lethal to a human or Asari, and is far stronger than most humans in close combat. However, she also has a relatively low bar for fatigue, and is not naturally built for speed.

Personally, she is likely less dangerous than her fellow Executive in Kean, but her natural durability and augmentations makes her a more irritating target to put down and _keep_ down.

 _Small Arms –_ As with most SIU trained operatives, she prefers to fight at short to medium range, giving herself the widest variety of tactical options. In many ways she can be compared to Kean, though her greater accuracy at range is contrasted against his higher lethality in melee. Together the two are likely a highly deadly pair, especially if they have a sniper providing long-range support.

 _Armor –_ She has adopted the lighter armor typically born by the Silver Blades in the wake of Redcliffe. I feel that I should remind any reader that this armor is only 'light' by Terminus definitions of the word. By Citadel or Alliance conventions, it would still be medium weight, featuring large numbers of composite strike plates in addition to thick shielding nodes.

 _Grenade Usage –_ While not reliant upon pre-programmed technical mines, Massa does subscribe to the grenadier philosophy common to SIU agents. She will quite frequently utilize large numbers, and a wide variety, of the devices in any given engagement.

* * *

 **End Report**

* * *

 _And we're done with the Cerberus reports, for the moment. We'll likely have a few intelligence briefing sections for a variety of people, then move on to the side-story concepts._

 _ **Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."**_

 _ **P a treon Zach_K2V**_

 _Thanks, Kat_


	5. Silver Blades Corporation: Equipment I

I don't own the Mass Effect.

 _Author's Note; Credit in advance to BJ Hanssen's Mass Effect Weaponry story._

* * *

 **Silver Blades Corporation; Weaponry & Equipment Part I**

* * *

 **Small Arms**

Broker,

After the Ferris Fields incident, you requested an update on the Silver Blades PMC and their standard equipment. I have finished said report, and have compiled it for you below. At the recommendation of Agent Z72, I have also added a few pieces of commentary in order to highlight the general differences in design philosophy between Terminus weaponry and Citadel designs.

All equipment will be rated on a 1-10 scale per category, as per Citadel standard. All ratings are appropriate for the weapon type (ie; a 7 weight rating for a pistol indicates that the weapon is heavy for a pistol, not that it weights the same as a 7 rated rifle).

Agent Novenshen

* * *

 **Equipment Philosophy**

It is important to note that the Silver Blades are very much a Terminus corporation when it comes to their standard issue kit. Nearly all of their initial recruits are veterans of Ganar's War, and as such have largely tailored their preferences towards dealing with the kind of threats that Krogan and Vorcha can bring to bear.

What this means practically is that nearly all of their standard weapons are optimized for maximum stopping power, typically at the expense of rapid fire capability. In combat against typical Terminus opponents relying heavily on armor rather than shields or barriers, this makes the Silver Blades an _extremely_ lethal force offensively. Realistically there is only a small subset of rival PMC's and elite Warlord units that could expect to survive a heavy barrage from a Silver Blade combat squad.

Against forces equipped with Citadel standard protection, the situation changes. The Blades firearms are far less effective against barriers and shielding, necessitating a heavy usage of technical mines, grenades, and support weapons in order to break the protection. That will give standard units a larger degree of freedom to act and could lead to advantaged situations should the Blade units have run out of said equipment. The unfortunate trade off is that, once said shields or barriers are broken, very few Citadel armor patterns are capable of stopping the heavy rounds preferred by the group.

A final note, assume that _all_ weaponry and equipment utilized by the Silver Blades has had its external access capabilities physically disabled. Likely a result of their founder's paranoia, they accept the trade off of having to use physical cables to connect their equipment to omni-tools or consoles for maintenance in exchange for systems that can not be touched by info-war programs. Reports from engagements in the Hegemony Civil War indicate that said omni-tools have their communications suites isolated and additionally have auto-purge programs on the off-chance that said firewalls can be circumvented.

* * *

 **Pistols**

 _Rating: Weight – Damage – Accuracy – Heat_

 **Name:** Mark 3 Blade Cannon (alternate; Kean-Pattern Executioner)

 **Gunsmith:** Cieran ul Kean

 **Fire Type:** Semi-automatic

 **Desc:** Originally a simple Blood Pack Executioner, the weapon was originally modified by Cieran Kean sometime in 2182 and has been continually adjusted since. It was a unique design up until late 2184, when Shaaryak-Redcliffe was given a base pattern of the weapon to begin general production. While the weapon is notably heavy, it nears the top of the pistol range in terms of damage dealt and is highly accurate out to mid range.

 **Usage:** Assumed available to all Silver Blade units.

 **Rating:** 7-7-7-5

 **Rapid Fire:** 4 shots before overheat

 **Secondary:** Secondary barrel configured for Concussive Round

* * *

 **Name** : Acolyte; Blade Pattern

 **Gunsmith** : Trena T'Laria

 **Fire Type** : Semi-automatic

 **Desc:** A variation of the Eclipse Pattern Acolyte, customized by former Eclipse Sister Trena T'Laria (nee Sederis). As with the Eclipse variation, it dispenses with the charge requirement in favor of straight semi-automatic fire. This has the side-effect of lowering the overall damage while vastly increasing the rate of fire and accuracy of the shot. The Blade variation enables secondary fire from the waste barrel (At a rate of roughly 1 additional shot per 5 standard rounds).

 **Usage:** Assumed available to all Lancer type and Hunter units.

 **Rating:** 3-4-7-7

 **Rapid Fire:** 12 shots before overheat

 **Secondary** : Secondary barrel configured for additional shots.

* * *

 **Name:** Heshiri Heavy Pistol

 **Gunsmith** : Batarian State Arms

 **Desc** : An Alliance analyst once described the Heshiri as 'a good reminder that a boring weapon can still put a bullet in your head'. Often derided in Citadel space for its lack of any notable features beyond its nearly impossible to modify design, the Heshiri remains a competent weapon, capable of dealing respectable damage with a similarly respectable rate of fire.

 **Usage:** Standard issue sidearm

 **Rating** : 4-5-5-7

 **Rapid Fire:** 11 shots before overheat

 **Secondary** : Omni-bayonet mount

* * *

 **Sub-Machine Guns**

 _Rating: Weight – Damage – Accuracy – Heat_

 **Name:** Type 26 Watcher (Alliance designation; M9 Tempest)

 **Gunsmith** : ERCS

 **Fire Type** : Automatic

 **Desc** : The primary submachine gun utilized by the Eclipse mercenary corporation, the Watcher is a rare weapon by Terminus standards for its light rounds, high rate of fire, and its adherence to Citadel gun regulations. Its primary use as an anti-shield/barrier design marks it as an oddity; it is typically far less expensive to purchase in Terminus gun-shops than it is in Citadel space. Terminus models typically equip armor piercing mods as standard.

 **Usage:** TO&E standard for combat engineers, assumed available for Lancer units

 **Rating** : 4-3-4-8

 **Rapid Fire:** 50 shots before overheat

 **Secondary** : None

* * *

 **Rifles**

 _Rating: Weight – Damage – Accuracy – Heat_

 **Name:** Redcliffe Type 4 Carbine

 **Gunsmith** : Ghen & Sha ul Belil

 **Fire Type** : Semi-automatic

 **Desc** : The last variation of the weapon designed by the Belil brothers for Warlord Zaen, the weapon remains popular for its extreme durability and high stopping power. While it is being phased out in Blade units by the upgraded variations, a large number of the older model remain in service, having been brought from Redcliffe by the ex-militia who elected to join the corporation.

 **Usage:** Estimated 45% of Xenthan Line units; 35% of Omega Line units

 **Rating** : 7-8-6-3

 **Rapid Fire:** 4 shots before overheat

 **Secondary** : None

* * *

 **Name:** Shaaryak-Redcliffe Type 7 Carbine

 **Gunsmith** : Ghen & Sha ul Belil, Cieran ul Kean

 **Fire Type** : Semi-automatic

 **Desc** : Having acquired several of the Type 4 carbines during the Redcliffe campaign, Kean evidently elected to modify them more to his personal standards. While he quickly returned to his main firearms, his modified design reached Nynsi Shaaryak on Illium. Seeing the potential, she quickly located and hired the Belil brothers and set them to work integrating their original design with Kean's modifications as well as the more advanced materials available on Illium. While the weapon retains a slow rate of fire and is still bulky, it is extremely accurate, deals high levels of damage, and retains a high degree of rugged durability.

 **Usage:** Available as standard Issue for all Blade Units

 **Rating** : 7-8-8-4

 **Rapid Fire:** 5 shots before overheat

 **Secondary** : Physical bayonet mount

* * *

 **Name:** Type 1 Blade Rifle

 **Gunsmith** : Cieran ul Kean

 **Fire Type** : Charged Semi-automatic

 **Desc** : Kean's first, and to date only, original design, the Type 1 Blade Rifle was likely intended as his ultimate answer to the issue of fighting Krogan as standard enemies. An Omni-Forge weapon, the weapon disregards anything resembling rapid fire in exchange for _extreme_ stopping power. Analysis of its trial usage in the Hegemony Civl War seem to indicate that it is capable of incorporating disruption or incendiary technology into its projectiles.

 **Usage:** Trial issue to Xenthan Hunter units

 **Rating** : 6-10-9-1

 **Rapid Fire:** N/A

 **Secondary** : Recorded variations include an omni-bayonet mount, one-shot tech launcher, one-shot grenade launcher, basic scope link

* * *

 **Support Weapons**

 _Rating: Weight – Damage – Accuracy – Heat_

 **Name:** Spitfire Light Machine Gun

 **Gunsmith** : Trena T'Laria, Cieran ul Kean

 **Desc** : Originally a BSA Type 20 LMG, the Spitfire is one of the few successful instances of a tech-mine launcher being married to a standard firearm. While the base weapon was rather sub-standard, the Blades modifications have turned it into a highly effective support weapon. A drum magazine feeds either overload or incinerate type mines into a secondary barrel, while the primary weapon has been heavily modified, losing an acceleration rail in exchange for an additional guide rail to upgrade accuracy. While the weapon is extremely capable of throwing out massive amounts of damage rapidly, it is also ammunition hungry and extremely heavy.

 **Usage** : Lancer Teams, Standard Issue Support Weapon

 **Rating** : 9-4-7-4

 **Rapid Fire:** 72 shots before overheat

 **Secondary** : Secondary barrel for technical mines. Standard magazine equips 42 mines.

* * *

 **Name:** Kishok Sniper Rifle

 **Gunsmith** : House Kishok

 **Fire Type** : Charged Semi-automatic

 **Desc** : As could be expected, the Silver Blades primary heavy sniper rifle is the Kishok, likely purchased in bulk from the Hegemony before the start of the civil war.

 **Usage:** Lancer Teams, Hunting Units

 **Rating** : 7-10-10-1

 **Rapid Fire:** N/A

 **Secondary** : Default disruption technology included in harpoon.

* * *

 **Name:** M97 Viper

 **Gunsmith** : Rosenkov Materials

 **Desc** : The only human produced weapon utilized in real quantity by the Silver Blades, the M97 Viper seems to be favored thanks to its ability to pair well with the heavier Kishok. Hunting squads often feature one of each, enabling one sniper to bring down hard targets, while the other focuses on lighter opponents or provides suppressing fire.

 **Usage:** Lancer Teams, Hunting Units

 **Rating** : 4-4-8-8

 **Rapid Fire:** 10 shots before overheat

 **Secondary** : Typically equipped with specialized ammunition

* * *

 _ **End Part I**_

 _Not sure how interesting people will find this, but I thought it would be fun to throw together to give everyone a better idea of the Silver Blade's rank and file capabilities. Part II will cover the armor and technical equipment used by the group, Part III will go into their heavier equipment and warships._

 _Once we're done with all of that, we'll get a Korolev POV section detailing just what she's been up to since she departed Omega._

 _ **Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."**_

 _ **P a treon Zach_K2V**_

 _Thanks, Kat_


	6. Silver Blades Corporation: Equipment II

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

 _Author's Note; Credit in advance to BJ Hanssen's Mass Effect Weaponry story._

 **Silver Blades Corporation; Weaponry & Equipment Part II**

* * *

 **Armor & Equipment**

Broker,

A continuation of my last report, with the focus shifting to the body armor in use by the Silver Blades Corporation as well as the technical equipment that they utilize. As with the weaponry, the armor will be rated in the Council's simple one to ten scale in the following categories; Armor strength, Self-repair, Shield strength, Shield recovery, and Weight/Encumbrance. Potential mods will have their changed values following the 'stock' value.

In terms of general notes, the Silver Blades are distinct from their Blue Sun predecessors and Eclipse allies in that they actually spend credits on real protection for their rank and file members. Those groups typically only ensured that their 'elites' had real equipment, in this they are actually more similar to the Blade-Wind corporation.

Most Silver Blade equipment follows the standard Terminus pattern of heavy reliance on the actual body armor, with said armor consisting of high quality strike plates, with weaker shielding and generally poor self-repair qualities. Assume that most of the corporation's soldiers are issued omni-gel canisters specifically to conduct field repairs on their armor as a result.

A final note, all values given are in reference to Terminus standards. For Citadel comparison, shift all armor types upwards one weight category. (Light Terminus = Medium Citadel, Medium Terminus = Heavy Citadel).

Agent Novenshen

* * *

 **Body Armor**

 **Name:** Herresha Light Plate

 **Producer:** Vael-Shianni Protection

 **Desc:** Herresha pattern armor is a fairly typical set of Terminus protection, and is available for most species. Ballistic strike plates protect the wearer's torso and vital organs, with additional plating over the upper legs and arms. The remainder of the body is protected by a combat hardsuit.

 **Common Modifications** : Additional strike plates can be easily added at the expense of weight.

 **Usage:** Standard issue to all non-Line, non-Lancer personnel.

 **Armor Rating:** 5 (6)

 **Self Repair:** 3

 **Shield Rating:** 5

 **Shield Recovery:** 4

 **Weight:** 3 (4)

* * *

 **Name:** Musakani Light Plate

 **Producer:** Vael-Shianni Protection

 **Desc:** The Musakani pattern is essentially the standard Herresha model upgraded with Citadel level shield units and self-repair capabilities. It maintains the same strike plates, marking a significant improvement in non-shield protection over the equivalent Council models, and only weighs a slight fraction more thanks to the use of higher quality materials. The trade off is significantly higher cost, hence its restriction to Lancer units.

 **Common Modifications** : Assume emergency shields over the torso, tech plating, medical suites, and improved sensor suites are standard issue per Kean & T'Laria's common pattern of upgrades.

 **Usage:** Standard issue to Lancer teams.

 **Armor Rating:** 5 (6)

 **Self Repair:** 5

 **Shield Rating:** 8 (9)

 **Shield Recovery:** 8 (10)

 **Weight** : 4

* * *

 **Name:** Type WM-5

 **Producer:** The West Mountain Armory

 **Desc:** A relatively young Turian group produces the Type WM-5 armor from their factories on Xentha, with models available for most species. A fairly unremarkable design, it is classified as medium armor with the majority of the body is covered in high-grade strike plates. The trade off is a rather heavy weight and mediocre shielding.

 **Common Modifications** : Tech Plating, Medical Suites

 **Usage:** Standard issue to all Xenthan Line units

 **Armor Rating:** 8 (9)

 **Self Repair:** 3 (4)

 **Shield Rating:** 5

 **Shield Recovery:** 4

 **Weight:** 6 (7)

* * *

 **Name:** Carradin Medium Plate

 **Producer:** Vael-Shianni Protection

 **Desc:** The heaviest armor produced by Vael-Shianni corporation is the Carradin suit, originally produced largely for the Blue Suns, Thunderhelm, and Blade-Wind corporations. Most of the user's body is protected in high-grade armor, with better than usual shielding and high quality materials lowering the weight but increasing the suit's cost.

 **Common Modifications** : Tech Plating, Medical Suites

 **Usage:** Standard issue to all Illium & Omega Line units

 **Armor Rating:** 7 (8)

 **Self Repair:** 3 (4)

 **Shield Rating:** 6

 **Shield Recovery:** 5

 **Weight** : 5 (6)

* * *

 **Name:** Skyhammer Armor

 **Producer:** Redcliffe Capital Arms

 **Desc:** The largest manufacturer of Krogan armor in the Terminus, Redcliffe Capital Arms largely survived the fighting on that world with their factories and workforce intact. They remain the primary producer of protection for their species in that region of space, with ultra-heavy armor backed up by redundant omni-gel self-repair modules intended to ensure that the armor is just as difficult to destroy as its wearer.

 **Common Modifications** : Medical Suites

 **Usage:** Standard issue to Krogan members

 **Armor Rating:** 10

 **Self Repair:** 6

 **Shield Rating:** 2

 **Shield Recovery:** 2

 **Weight** : 8

* * *

 **Technical Equipment**

 **Name:** Gethan-Vass Shield Pylon

 **Producer:** Gethan-Vass Engineering Corporation

 **Desc:** A relatively simple, lightweight design intended primary for Asari and Salarian usage, the GV-SP is a one meter tall shield pylon for use by combat engineers. Its primary purpose is to reinforce the barrier protections of all allies within its operational radius, with the base secondary functionality being a communications suite to improve front-line connectivity.

 **Optional Upgrades:** Defensive Drone, Grenade Foundry

 **Assignment:** Combat Engineers assigned to Hunting and Support units.

 **Name:** Pylon 5

* * *

 **Producer:** District-Celthani Alliance

 **Desc:** A much heavier design than the GV-SP, the Pylon 5 model is typically split between two combat engineers before being assembled in the field. In addition to a much broader radius for reinforcement, the model comes stock with a technical mine and grenade omni-foundry, two fabricators to repair damaged armor or weapons, and another that produces two recon drones intended to patrol the area near said pylon.

 **Optional Upgrades:** Communications Suite, additional construction fabricators

 **Assignment** : Combat Engineers assigned to Line units.

 **Name:** Technical Mine Launcher (models vary)

* * *

 **Producers:** Various

 **Desc:** As the Citadel Council has so far succeeded in minimizing the proliferation of omni-tools capable of flash-constructing technical mines and drones, the Silver Blades still rely on older launchers for the usage of technical mines (The name mine being a misnomer, they are essentially highly specialized guided grenades). Most of these devices are either shoulder or waist mounted, with a simple magazine feeding into a very short barrel fitted with acceleration rails. A known drawback of the class is that loaded mines are primed, and severe damaged to the launcher can cause a detonation. For that reason, keeping any 'in the barrel' is typically avoided excepting in specific situations.

 **Magazine Capacity:** Varies; typically between 24 and 48 depending on model

 **Standard Mines:** The Silver Blades typically utilize only Overload and Incinerate models, preferring nullification grenades to dampening mines and with no recorded instances of other types.

* * *

 **Grenades**

The Silver Blades corporation as a whole is extremely fond of grenades, with all recorded instances of their engagements featuring a very high utilization rate. Fragmentation and Smoke/Concealment types are standard issue for line units, with Hunting and Lancer units having access to a broader variety. Most common are Batarian type napalm bombs, Salarian make Stun/Flash-bang grenades, and anti-biotic Nullification grenades.

* * *

 **End Report**

* * *

 _Yeah.. I'm still binging Adromeda, but now that my vacation is officially over I felt like I should actually get some writing done in addition to having to work. Figured I'd start with another TWF section since getting into Ghai's head is proving to be more difficult than anticipated._

 _ **Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."**_

 _ **P a treon Zach_K2V**_

 _Thanks, Kat_

* * *

 **Review Responses:**

dekuton – yeah, not much I could do about that without making it hard to read in one format or another. Tried to make it as easy to reference as I could by putting the ranking order in each category.

5 Coloured Walker – The rifle is little odd because it was meant to fill a hole in Cirean's personal weapon selection more than for general issue. He can deal with crowds of vorcha or other light targets with his mines or smg, at longer ranges he wanted something that could injure or put down krogan in as few shots as possible. As for the rate of fire, the charging refers to the fact that it can be charged to enhance the damage.


	7. Silver Blades Corporation: Equipment III

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

 **Silver Blades Corporation; Weaponry & Equipment Part III**

* * *

 **Warships & Vehicles**

Broker,

The Corporation's acquiring of warships is definitely something to be alarmed about, but I would temper that worry given their current business model and known plans. The Silver Blades are assuredly not the Blue Suns, they will not be investing ownership stakes into Terminus colonies in order to fund a full war fleet of their own. Indeed, based on what information I have on their budgets, the Blades are likely straining to even support the vessels they currently have on roster. I have confirmed intelligence that they have declined at least two requests from independent ship captains to join their organization, as they simply don't have the operating room at this point.

In terms of ground vehicles, the lessons of Redcliffe continue to predominate. The Illium branch in particular is investing heavily in several manufacturers who produce GTS Missile Trucks and mobile GARDIAN arrays. Costs and construction time is currently limiting the amount of these vehicles deployed, but it is likely only a matter of time before they are fully stocked.

Agent Novenshen

* * *

 **Warships**

The Silver Blades war-fleet is currently a mixed allotment, understandable given that all but one of their ships were given as war-prizes upon the conclusion of Ganar's war. Copies of the contractual negotiations brought up between the group and the Traverse colonies they are working with seem to indicate that all of their vessels will be fully repaired and assigned by the end of 2185.

Currently the bulk of said fleet is being assigned to protect Horizon and New Canton, with the former drawing continuous assets while the latter is merely paying for rotating patrols. Nagato colony is still working out their available finances, but it is likely that the Blades will at least post one or two of their lighter ships in the system.

As the ships have not yet engaged in open combat in any real sense, we have no intelligence on what tactics may or may not predominate. Further, up until this point, the _Reliant_ was the primary piece used to shuttle around the various Lancer teams to their targets. Given that it will now likely become the fleet flagship and remain on its own assignment, it is probable that one of the lighter ships (likely the _Eshadin_ or _Berri Noln)_ will be allocated to shuttle Executive Kean on his various 'errands'.

Troops and supplies are currently being moved by cargo and troop ships on loan from the Eclipse and Xenthan Empire, I have no intelligence on if any of the three Executives intends to purchase their own long-term, but I consider it probable.

* * *

 **Heavy Cruisers**

 **Names:** _Reliant_ (flagship), _Headsman_

 **Class:** _Honored by the Pillars_

 **Weaponry:** Two spinal mounted mass accelerators, four GARDIAN arrays, four medium weight mass accelerator turrets (two dorsal, two ventral), eight light weight mass accelerator turrets (four dorsal, four ventral), two missile banks (eight tubes per).

 **Crew:** Minimum 200; Optimal; 420

 **FTL:** 11.8 ly/d

 **Description:** A relatively recent Hegemony design, largely intended as a long-endurance patrol vessel to safeguard far-flung colonies in the Dark Rim. Their extensive secondary batteries and high drive capacity made them ideal not only as pirate killers, but also as pirate vessels themselves. Many of the class have been swarmed and captured by Pirate Kings looking for a new flagship, with both of the Blades' vessels once having been owned by the Blood Pack. As with most Batarian warships, they have weak shields but feature a 'honeycomb' internal armor scheme that makes them over-massed for their size and rather slow to accelerate. The trade off is that the repeated armored belts enables them to continue engagements despite extreme levels of destruction.

 **Current Status:** _Reliant_ on assignment to Horizon colony, _Headsman_ undergoing repairs in Eclipse Shipyards above Illium.

* * *

 **Destroyers**

 **Names** _: Helladin, Ehsadin_

 **Class:** _Lorthadin_

 **Weaponry:** One spinal mass accelerator, two GARDIAN arrays, four mixed turrets (each mounting one light, one ultra-light accelerator cannon), hangar space for six assault shuttles

 **Crew:** Minimum 42; Optimal 92

 **FTL:** 12.1 ly/d

 **Description:** The _Lorthadin_ class was an attempt by _Ha'diq_ Til ul Reshak to create warships that he could sell to other warlords. The quintessential pirate ship, the _Lorthadin_ class is intended to rapidly break past lighter opponents before releasing ground forces. It features a relatively high charge capacity and extensive cargo space as one would expect, and was built with two internal omni-foundries specifically tuned to assist in self-repairs to maximize self-reliance. The design is now five decades old and is more than beginning to show its age, but it remains a capable enough light warship if in good repair.

 **Current Status:** _Helladin_ docked beside _Headsman_ above Illium, undergoing repair and refit. _Ehsadin_ is currently third on the wait list for the next available dock at the same location.

* * *

 **Frigates**

 **Names** : _Parry Cut, Low Kick_

 **Class:** _Gliding Dagger_ (assumed)

 **Base Weaponry:** Four 'wing' mount light accelerator turrets, four missile banks (four launchers each)

 _ **Rebuild:**_ Two 'wing' mount light accelerator turrets, two missile bank (four launchers each), two 'wing' mount GARDIAN emitters, one spinal mass accelerator

 **Crew:** Minimum: 30; Optimal; 48

 **FTL:** 12.2 ly/d

 **Description:** Members of one of the many Turian missile frigate designs, even I can't locate just how these two ended up in Blood Pack hands. Both are at least a century old, if not older, and show extensive signs of being repeatedly rebuilt as they changed hands. Intercepted messages within the Blades' enclave indicate that both frigates due to be extensively modified once again, with their main hull actually being lengthened to make room for additional systems even as half of the missile capacity is being removed to make room for more point-defense systems.

 **Current Status:** Both are within the Blades' Omega docks, undergoing extensive rebuilds.

* * *

 **Names** : _Sky-piercer, Helldiver, Fireball_

 **Class:** _Sun Sword_

 **Weaponry:** One spinal torpedo tube, four ultra-light mass accelerator turrets, two GARDIAN emitters

 **Crew:** Minimum 32; Optimal 48

 **FTL:** 12.5 ly/d

 **Description:** A combat frigate designed by Heinrich die Waffe, and sold extensively to other Warlords. The vessels are fairly well rounded, and are more than capable of engaging other light ships in combat or acting in support of heavier assets. However, like most frigates, they have thin armor and shields, and generally best used in hit-and-run engagements or in wolf pack formations.

 **Current Status:** _Helldiver_ on assignment to Horizon. _Sky-piercer_ undergoing refit in Omega, _Fireball_ undergoing post-repair shake-down run.

* * *

 **Name** : _Barri Noln_

 **Class:** _Noln_

 **Weaponry:** Four single emitter GARDIAN lasers, one spinal torpedo tube, capacity for eight fighter-bombers

 **Crew:** Minimum 34; Optimal 62

 **FTL:** 13.7 ly/d

 **Description:** One of the rare _Noln_ frigate-carriers, the _Barri Noln_ was an Eclipse vessel until its capture early in the war. The ship was given to the Blades as a war-prize after Leska Sederis tagged it as requiring too many resources to repair. Captured intelligence indicates that the damaged hulk is likely to undergo an extensive rebuild of some form, but that the various leaders have not yet agreed as to what direction said rebuild will take given the cost considerations.

 **Current Status** : Waiting for docking space in Illium's shipyards to be repaired.

* * *

 **Corvettes**

 **Names** : _Leaping Mist, Shrouded Blade, Dusk Speaker, Stalking Fool, Will'o'wisp_

 **Class:** _Fog_ _Warrior_

 **Weaponry:** Two spinal missile accelerators, four ultra-light mass accelerator turrets, one GARDIAN emitter

 **Crew:** Minimum 24; Optimal 42

 **FTL:** 12.4 ly/d

 **Description:** The most common warship type produced by Heinrich die Waffe's Conquest Yards, the _Fog Warrior_ class corvette is an extremely light warship intended to be sold on the cheap to smaller warlords and pirate bands. It is essentially a smaller _Sun Sword_ with even lighter armor and fewer weapons. While not true stealth vessels, their systems are highly efficient and when running 'quiet' they make excellent recon vessels in systems with poor detection grids. In open combat they mostly serve as escorts, lurking closer to larger warships to supplement their point defense while volley-firing high-acceleration missiles.

 **Current Status:** _Will'o'wisp_ and _Dusk Speaker_ both on assignment to Horizon. _Stalking Fool_ undergoing repairs at Omega, due to be assigned to Nagato contract. _Leaping Mist_ and _Shrouded Blade_ undergoing refit at Omega, due to be assigned to the Horizon contract.

* * *

 **Support Vehicles**

Currently the Blades are following the same pattern as Xenthan first-rate regiments when it comes to their supporting vehicles. Four to six GARDIAN vehicles are typically paired with as many as twenty missile vehicles, coordinated from two main tracking vehicles (one primary, one backup). As stated before, currently they have very few of any model, but are working on expansion as quickly as their suppliers can produce the vehicles and supplies.

At this time, the Blades have not purchased any artillery pieces, though some of the files taken from the Illium Branch's servers indicate that funds are being set aside for just that purpose. Currently, it should be noted that only the Xenthan branch is actively being assigned these vehicles, with the Illium branch not set to receive any, and the Omega branch instead re-selling vehicles directly to Horizon's government.

* * *

 **Type:** Missile Truck

 **Models:** Various

 **Weaponry:** Ground-to-air/space missiles (Typically between twelve and thirty)

 **Description:** A fairly typical vehicle, these missile trucks are intended to be used in bulk while linked to a central targeting mainframe. Their main prey are frigates or small cruisers that make the mistake of entering atmosphere, with up to a dozen of the vehicles ripple-firing their entire payload to overwhelm the ship's point defense systems beneath successive waves of missiles. They can also be used against more distant targets, though their effectiveness drops precipitously as the range increases (giving the target ship more time to destroy the missiles, or simply evade). The trucks can also be used independently, using their own radar to lock on and destroy enemy aerospace support.

* * *

 **Type:** Mobile GARDIAN emitter

 **Models:** Various

 **Weaponry:** One to two laser emitters

 **Description:** While having a much higher base cost than a simple missile truck, and requiring large amounts of maintenance, mobile GARDIAN vehicles are the main GTS weapon of choice across much of the Terminus. Depending on the focus and quality of the weapon used, they are capable of damaging vessels even in higher orbits, though this usage is rare due to heating limitations and power requirements. Most models have coolant and power 'trailers' attached to maximize their engagement duration.

* * *

 **End Report**

* * *

 _Figured I'd get the rest of this section done quickly. I didn't get this chapter to my beta, or the last, so any mistakes are entirely on me. This chapter is mostly about the ships (such as they are) with a few side bits about the anti-air/space weapons that the group is buying up as their money allows._

 _ **Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."**_

 _ **P a treon Zach_K2V**_

 _Thanks, Kat_


	8. Omega Research Report: Indoctrination

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

 **Report to Aria: Indoctrination & Husk Types**

Aria,

We still have years, if not decades of work ahead of us, but we've managed to piece together a few preliminary findings based on the subjects that we've been able to aquire. Of particular help was the subgroup of Reaper indoctrinated humans and the destroyed husks provided by Cerberus, though I am still having my staff recheck all of the data that they exchange with us, and making sure that Elder's sub-chorus is properly scrambling the transmissions.

Of course I am not second-guessing your decision to strike a research arrangement with them, but they do have a reputation for letting projects fall apart and I would rather not see them come after us just because their security measures failed.

In regards to your prior request, the latest raid went off successfully, and the Blade-Wind made sure to completely destroy the compound this time. Net gain; Seven Asari (all maidens), four Turians, nine Humans, eight Batarians, fifteen Salarians, two Quarians, and two Drell. Analysis and experimentation will begin once we have processed them.

Addendum, as per your orders, if the Quarians can be cleared of indoctrination, they will be returned to the Flotilla.

Research Lead Juli T'Loak

* * *

 **Husk Patterns**

So far we have had the most success in our dissections of the various Husk types utilized by the Leviathans and Reapers. As we are understandably more focused on the former, I will simply summarize the primary differences between the two types.

The core difference is that Leviathan husks remain living, organic beings, where Reaper husks are very much not. One of the humans on my staff referred to the latter as 'cybernetic zombies', an apt comparison once I understood what he meant. On its own, a Reaper Husk has no sapience or free will, and is little more than an extension of its masters' will. How exactly they are controlled is entirely unknown, but small hints indicate that this is where Cerberus is focusing its research.

What this means tactically is that Reaper husks are only as intelligent as the Reaper controlling them, and that said Reapers seem to simply 'download' stock program commands into the husks (much as if they were simply combat mechs). This gives them a rather predictable pattern of tactics, which only shift if a higher intelligence takes direct control (Comparison from reports; Observation of Husk tactics on Eden Prime were far more strategically sound and clever prior to Sovereign's departure of the system. Similar effects during Citadel invasion pre and post destruction of said Reaper).

In comparison, certain types of Leviathan husks remain reasoning, thinking beings, and are capable of learning from experience... somewhat. Three of the 'models' that we have observed so far are effectively feral, or brain-dead, and act only as extensions of 'command' wills. Leviathan husk formations can thus be decapitated in much the same way as a living army; removing their command models should drastically reduce their fighting capacity.

Below is a quick synopsis of the various Husk types so far encountered, with the details in attachments one and two. A note, so far we have not encountered Salarian or Quarian husks despite having located several of both species captured as prisoners in the two Matriarchal compounds raided to this point. Pessimism indicates that there is something about both species, or their husks, that is unique, and will likely cause problems at the worst possible moment.

* * *

 **Type** : Feral

 **Stock:** Vorcha

 **Appearance: Quadrupedal** Vorcha,

 **Weaponry:** Extended fangs, Extensive fore-claws

 **Description:** Minimal cybernetic changes, likely due to the Vorcha species' own rapid ability to adapt its genetic code. Likely the most long-term project, with waves of Vorcha being bred over the last century or two to result in a quadrupedal sub-species that instinctively reacts and responds to indoctrination signals. They are entirely feral if devoid of said signals, and instinctively operate in pack formations lead by an alpha.

* * *

 **Type:** Brawler

 **Stock:** Batarian

 **Appearance:** Natural cartilaginous plating replaced with armored strike plates, additional armor inserted directly above all vital organs. Over-developed arm musculature.

 **Weaponry:** Omni-Gauntlets surgically implanted.

 **Description** : The Brawler strikes us as a 'half-and-half' kind of model, utilizing minimal Leviathan upgrades in favor of more commonly available steroids and common armor. Likely intended to be produced in large numbers with minimal oversight, with their minds essentially wiped in order to render them entirely reliant on command models. Absent any such Leviathan signal, they default to a coma-like condition that preserves their body for up to two weeks before dehydration and starvation begin to take affect.

* * *

 **Type:** Cannoneer

 **Stock:** Human

 **Appearance:** Right arm replaced with some kind of dark energy weapon, right lung removed to make room for eezo filled sacs that seem to power it. Minimal armor or protection.

 **Weaponry:** Dark energy cannon; two fire modes. One causes a burst similar to a warpfire detonation, while the other is more pinpoint and is similar to a biotic lance.

 **Description:** I'm going to be blunt, we have no idea how this weapon system works even after several months of study. Somehow it is artificially creating biotic fields and manipulating dark energy despite the fact that the Human in question is essentially brain-dead. In battle they are usually directed by a command model and act as living heavy weapons. Unlike the Batarian model, in the absence of orders they default to an over-watch mode, and will fire on anything mobile in their line of sight.

* * *

 **Type:** Forsaken

 **Stock:** Turian

 **Appearance:** Any basic image of Saren Arterius will serve as a baseline.

 **Weaponry:** Conventional weapons

 **Description:** The basic 'command' model of husk, the Forsaken appear to still be self-aware despite their extensive cybernetic implants. Some are rather conventional, while others we are still attempting to decipher. While they do not have a Leviathan orb inserted directly into their bodies, they do seem to have some form of constant connection to their masters, and can silently command other husks that are nearby. The true oddity is the replacement of large sections of the carapace with some kind of coral-like material, we are still running tests.

 **Warning:** This model is the closest to a typical member of its own species, and can likely act as an infiltrator.

* * *

 **Type:** Stalker

 **Stock:** Drell

 **Appearance:** Appears as an emaciated Drell, legs reverse jointed and lengthend from the norm.

 **Weaponry:** Tower-type omni-shield built into one arm, omni-blade in the other. Can utilize conventional weapons.

 **Description:** Both the Silver Blades and Blade-Wind report Stalkers as being the single most annoying husk type to face. The type is definitely sentient, and seems to be programmed to sadistically taunt and harass opponents by utilizing its extreme natural speed and mobility, in combination with an active camouflage system inlaid directly into its skin.

* * *

 **Type:** Banshee

 **Stock:** Asari

 **Appearance:** Physically is a nude Asari with armor plating replacing both breasts and covering her abdomen, a small Leviathan orb is surgically implanted directly above its heart. Both primary and secondary nervous systems have been laced with enough additional eezo to render them visible through the skin in normal lighting.

 **Weaponry:** Biotics

 **Description:** The most dangerous husk type by far. Exhibit more raw biotic power than any known Asari on record, including Ardat-Yakshi. Noted extreme levels of resistance to typical anti-biotic weaponry, appears capable of utilizing all known biotic techniques, and likely more that we have not yet observed.

Only two have been encountered and killed to date. One by Executive Commander Cieran Kean, in Omega's tunnels. He was able reach close range and directly attach a nullification collar, which weakened its barriers to the point where he was able to kill it conventionally. The second was encountered and killed on Haestrom by Flotilla Specialist Tali'zorah vas Neema, who utilized mining charges to collapse a building atop it before executing it while it attempted to free itself.

Both sustained severe wounds during their battles, and likely only survived due to the creatures' efforts to take them alive rather than simply kill them. More notably, both were likely heavily exposed to the control orbs due to the point-blank nature of their kills. I understand your position that neither can be acquired as test subject due to political factors, but my staff asks that I make the request once again.

* * *

 **Indoctrination**

As per your orders, we are currently ignoring the exact mechanics of Indoctrination in favor of attempting to decipher some means of detection and notable differences between Reaper and Leviathan variations. More helpful than the Cerberus data was the information brought in with Doctor Thanoptis, along with Saren's prototype scanners.

Note; said doctor remains in lock-down until we can confirm she is not indoctrinated. She has so far cooperated and exhibited no signs of suicidal tendencies or evidence of indoctrination, but I remember your orders to be careful.

Physically, the primary difference is simple enough to note. Someone exposed to mild amounts of Reaper signals over a short period will begin bleeding from nasal tissue, gums, ears, or similar locations. Mild Leviathan exposure shows no such effects, and the victims report only mild headaches. Exposure levels also differ heavily in terms of 'safety'. It requires far less exposure to Reaper materials in order to reach the critical threshold where the subject is assuredly indoctrinated, where Leviathan exposure requires a significant amount of time.

Our current theory is that the Reapers utilize brute force where the Leviathans prefer subtlety. In either case, our current main research path is based upon the same base that Saren discovered during his and T'Soni's research on the subject; Asari melding.

Any Asari melding with someone exposed to Leviathan indoctrination can 'feel' the effects. The most common description during a shallow meld is that of a distant echo of pain. Deeper melds increase the sensation to something more like the sound of shattering glass and the pain begins to resonate within the Asari as well. I believe that the assassin Zero-One's insanity was a result of her establishing a full bond with Jaime Kerensky/Anad Krom, the echo of pain was likely a constant sensation in her head.

Melding with someone exposed to Reaper indoctrination is a different matter. Even a mild touch immediately made my assistant break the contact while screaming, and we were forced to sedate her before she could burn her own eyes out with biotic energy. I am keeping her in a medical coma until we have finished a scanning device to check her for indoctrination.

Saren's attempt to create a scanner never passed the prototype phase, and evidence seems to indicate that his core research staff had become indoctrinated before they could truly finish. They thusly delayed and sabotaged their own efforts, something that Saren did not realize until a few weeks before the attack on Virmire. Doctor Thanoptis was able to get us the various designs, but we are still working on isolating the original variation.

The core concept is simple. Utilizing the same medical technology used to simulate an Asari meld, it would then 'read' the target's reaction to the meld. The former is simple enough, the latter is more difficult. Teaching an experienced Asari what to look for in a meld is one thing, teaching a machine that is not actually creating a meld is something else. Worse, as with Saren's version, it currently has to be attached directly to the subject. My main focus is on getting a working variation in order before we attempt to create a remote scanner.

In the interim, I would like to request at least twenty to thirty Asari matrons to be trained in shallow-meld techniques and then be taught what to look for. So far there is no evidence that Leviathan indoctrination can travel between Asari via melding, which at least gives us one route of detection.

 _Batarians_

A secondary observation from the infiltration of Zeta district; One in ten Batarians respond _extremely_ adversely to the effects of Leviathan exposure. All other beings are essentially in a trance or sleep-walking state when being directly controlled, and awaken with no memories of what they were made to do. These Batarians, in contrast, are entirely self aware and rapidly lose their sanity as their body is manipulated beyond their control. They universally attempt to commit suicide the moment they are freed from exposure.

The chaos in Khar'shan makes access to extensive Batarian medical records extremely difficult, but their may be a specific, rare mutation that cause this (We currently lack sufficient specimens to be certain). Likely not a viable research avenue given the short time frame available, but potentially worth pursuing in the future.

 _Prognosis and Range of Effect_

In terms of effective range, for Reaper signals there appears to be no possible evasion. Once someone has been indoctrinated by the Reapers, there is no turning back, no avoiding the effects. They remain enthralled regardless of their physical location. Further, analysis of Saren's records indicating that the more extensive the Reaper's influence, the less mental acuity the subject maintains. Further, once a certain threshold is reached, mental collapse is a virtual certainty even if the Reapers no longer maintain direct influence. Species appears to be irrelevant, with personal willpower the primary factor in where that threshold lies.

The more damaged an individual, the more they claim that Reaper-tech 'calls' to them and the more desperate they are to reach it, and they seem to have an instinctive knowledge of just where said tech is located. We theorize that this some kind of return on investment mechanism. Once a subject has reached the end of its usefulness as an organic, it is drawn back so that it can be husked and remain useful. I had hoped to utilize this after realizing that all of the test subjects faced the same direction after reaching this stage, but after maneuvering them across various clusters and correlating their facing, I came to the conclusion that they all gaze at Ilos and its collection of Reaper corpses.

In comparison, Leviathan subjects are far less uniform. Most exhibit no sign of direct mental collapse, excepting the expected psychological trauma upon the realization of what has happened to them. However, the longer a target is subjected directly to the Leviathan's will, the more mental trauma we have observed (see below).

Regarding the area of effect, Leviathan subjects only exhibit indoctrinated behavior if in the area of a control orb, or a command model husk. Once sufficiently removed from those objects, they return to their normal behavioral patterns with only mild side-effects. Headaches and migraines are the most common, though scans do show some scarring in the brain areas of those repeatedly exposed and then removed, indicating that there is definitely damage occurring.

* * *

 **Final Requests**

I understand the political situation is not in favor of additional raids on Matriarch T'Ravt's compounds in the Republics, but I must ask that you allow me to send the Blade-Wind on additional missions. The more subjects we have to examine, the more sure I will be of my research.

Additionally, the three known survivors of the Matriarch's more extreme experiments simply must be made available to me. While we have thoroughly studied subject nine's corpse, there is little we can learn without brain activity besides the extent of damage he suffered (See attachment three). The surviving subjects likely have unique experiences, effects, and damage that would greatly expand on our knowledge, and I would make every effort to ensure that they survived if that is your wish.

 _Subject Eight_ : Induced coma on Thessia. Location is problematic but status would make removal and study simple.

 _Subject Eleven_ : Cieran Kean, Executive Commander of the Silver Blades. Information from the Elder indicates that he is receiving some form of mind healing from one of his subordinates, I must insist that this be stopped, he will provide the most information if I am allowed to examine him with minimal contamination.

 _Subject Sixteen_ : Nikita Korolev, last known to be located on Illium. A small increase in budget would be sufficient to task a commando unit from the Blade-Wind to pursue and acquire her.

I will keep you fully updated, of course.

* * *

 **Report Response:**

Doctor,

I expect the daily reports to continue. Your request for more compound raids is denied, Thessia is on edge enough without adding more of those.

As for the others, Sixteen is a Broker agent now, I don't need to tell you how suicidal it would be to go after her. Kean is needed where he's at, and the human enjoys Jona's personal attention regardless. Focus on Eight, she might be doable, but not with those Turians. Contact the real Broker and see how much it would cost then forward me the details.

Tell your team there's bonuses and colonial vacations on the line if you get a functioning scanner before the new year.

Aria

* * *

 **End File.**

 _And finally drew up a bit of information on indoctrination in the AR:Verse. Hopefully it will be informative and useful._

 _ **Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."**_

 _ **P a treon Zach_K2V**_

 _Thanks, Kat_


	9. Silver Blades Corporation: Organization

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

 **Silver Blades Corporation; Internal Organization Notice**

 _To:_ Kean, Cieran. Executive Cmdr, Omega branch

 _From:_ T'Donna, Erana. Administrative Assistant

 _Subject:_ Updated Organizational Chart

Sir, I've attached the latest version of the organizational chart for your approval. I have indicated which areas still need additional recruits and-or funding based on Administrator ul Thusan's recommendations. As you informed me yesterday that you wish to forward this to your subordinate captains, I have included information that I typically leave off.

Also, Miss Shaaryak is still complaining about the ranking system, she wishes the titles to be more unique. She recommends that each branch be tasked with reforming the titles in their primary area of purview; Illium – Administrative rankings, Omega – Naval & Lancer rankings, Xentha – Regimental rankings.

( _Erana; I'll task Joa with that. One update, before we send this out to everyone, make sure to replace 'Miss Shaaryak' with 'Exec. Cmdr. Shaaryak, same for the other ranking officers. The casual format is fine when it's just me reading it. ~ CK)_

* * *

 **Omega Branch Organization**

Sir,

Based upon the initial founding agreement, we are supposed to reach an artificial limit of five Lancer squads (not including your original team), ten regiments, and all combat naval assets. ( _Erana: Tell Ayle that she, Nynsi, and I really need to meet in person to rework exactly who is going to be handling what considering that they're both bringing back salvaged warships from the Hegemony, and since Ayle's made it pretty clear that she wants to keep Terro's team. ~ CK)_

Currently our primary recruiting zones are on Omega, and colonies in the spinward and rimward Terminus. Miss Shaaryak has also been sending excess recruits from Illium to join us, given her own current satisfaction with her own numbers and ability to recruit from the Hegemony during the campaign.

Our largest asset remains Illium Minor, the now partially-sealed off section of Doru that we inhabit on Omega. The only known entrances are eight ground level gates and aerial traffic through the core. The last is now being monitored by a single gunship squadron, who maintain patrols to ensure that only authorized traffic may attempt landings in our area.

 _ **Regiments:**_ At the moment, we have six regiments fully staffed with no outstanding personnel requests. As per your policy, we are maintaining a 'reserve guard' of five hundred trained soldiers who will be used to replace combat losses, and in the meantime are seconded to Administrator Ven's district force.

 _First Regiment:_ Senior Captain Nara ul Thui; Horizon contract

 _Second Regiment:_ Senior Captain Vishin ul Chol; Horizon contract

 _Third Regiment:_ Senior Captain Vesik B'Nor; Nagato contract

 _Fourth Regiment:_ Senior Captain Nel B'Mara; New Canton contract

 _Fifth Regiment:_ Senior Captain Ethar ul Raul; training

 _Sixth Regiment:_ Senior Captain Raik Keshanna; training

 _ **Lancers:**_ Technically your Lancer team is still active and under your personal command, as well as Miss Trena's. Miss Ayle and Miss Shaaryak sent another request yesterday, inquiring as to when you will begin training another team; I replied that your plan is to see at least one, if not two teams assembled by the New Year.

 _ **Naval Forces:**_ With the repairs to the _Wisp_ , we don't have have any outstanding issues in regards to our fleet. The last pirate and geth vessels salvaged above Novgorod have no arrived, and are in the process of being evaluated for potential repairs or sale to Aria. Additionally, I believe that Miss Shaaryak is in the process of acquiring proper troop ships for us, so that we no longer have to pay the Eclipse to utilize theirs, and I believe that we can expect the first such vessels in July. ( _Erana; Correct that to September, Nynsi is bringing five that she and Ayle were awarded in the Hegemony, but they're going to need work ups at Illium first. ~ CK)_

 _Horizon Contract/Task Force Reliant:_ Senior Captain Joa T'Voth; 1 heavy cruiser, 2 frigates _,_ 4 corvettes

 _Omega Fleet/Task Force Headsman:_ Senior Captain Jun T'Voth; 1 heavy cruiser ( _Headsman_ ), 2 frigates, 1 corvette

 _Nagato Contract:_ Captain B'Shoan; 1 destroyer _,_ 1 frigate

 _New Canton Contract:_ Captain ul Vehsa; 1 destroyer, 1 frigate

 _Omega Docks_ : In the salvage evaluation process: 1 destroyer (Republic _Duskwind_ class), 5 frigates (mixed types, 3 Hegemony, 2 Terminus)

 _ **Administrative:**_ Our civilian wing, under Administrator Ven ul Thusan, continues to expand into something properly capable of both managing civilian affairs in Illium Minor as well as protecting our borders. In addition to the staff who run the various licensing operations and the small team of private investigators hired in from Illium, he has two companies of security staff with a third being trained. Mister Ven's organization is still in the process of expanding, and he expects to eventually require at least double his current staff as Illium Minor continues to gain population. ( _Erana; Add in that said security staff are armed only with pistols, with one sniper team per company. Also that we're bringing in two I-Sec retirees to train them to think more like cops than soldiers/mercenaries. Only heavy force is the gunship team. ~ CK)_

 _ **Profit:**_ We are currently still in the blue, barely, thanks mostly to Illium Minor's population and economic growth. Our three principal colonial contracts are all at minimal profit margins, though we do have high-profit offers from several colonies nearer to the Dark Rim and Hegemony border. ( _Erana; update this with our decision to cut the Horizon contract, we'll likely be putting forces on Cear'tol and Midnight Spires once this Collector crap is done with. Also update the regimental listings above, now that I think about it. ~ CK)_

 _ **Recruitment Breakdown:**_ Data from Miss Ghai: 37% Asari, 32% Batarian, 17% Turian, 9 % Krogan, 4% Terminus Quarian, 1% Human/Drell/Salarian

 _ **Projection:**_ Recruitment quotas should see a seventh regiment fully formed by August, and an eighth by September. Training for the fifth and sixth regiments should be finished by July, and for the hypothetical seventh and eighth by December. Potential repairs to the salvaged warships should complete around the same time frame.

* * *

 **Xentha Branch Update**

The Xenthan branch remains the largest, by far, of the organization's three divisions, likely due to the significant recruiting head start that they were allowed, in addition to the far more relaxed recruitment laws on Xentha and Redcliffe in comparison to Illium. Pending your approval at the conference meeting next week, Miss Idas Kithan will be promoted from Senior Captain to Commander, marking her as Miss Ayle's official second in command. _(Erana; make sure that everyone knows to contact Idas instead of Ayle if they need to work with the Xenthan unit, at least until Ayle gets back from the campaign. ~ CK)_

The Branch remains heavily involved in the Hegemony Civil War, though with the invasion of Khar'shan now proceeding well, Miss Ayle has indicated that she is going to start rotating regiments back to Xentha. I believe that she will be discussing their re-assignment to assist in combating the Collectors once they have taken suitable vacations.

 _ **Regiments** : _Currently the branch has fourteen regiments marked as 'combat ready', all of which are assigned to the Hegemony campaign. Five additional regiments are currently in training on Xentha, and supplies are being stockpiled to form two more. According to what I have seen, Miss Ayle's regiments follow the same structure as ours.

 _ **Lancers/Light Response:**_ Mister Terro's Lancer team is still active on Khar'shan, but we haven't had any reports of casualties. Miss Ayle has also indicated that she is working towards a new kind of unit, something in between your Lancer teams and the platoon formations that we occasionally loan the Eclipse, but I haven't noticed any official reports in your mail yet. ( _Erana; Add a note here to remind everyone that Terro's team is technically under my purview, just on loan to Ayle until we rework our division of labor. ~ CK)_

 _ **Naval Forces** : _The financial records indicate that Miss Ayle has spent most of her profits acquiring enough troop ships and shuttles (all bought from Lady T'Ravt) to transport her ground forces. She has also acquired a few warships as salvage during the fighting, I believe they are being towed to our docks for repair and refit. Last report had them moving two lights cruisers, a destroyer, and five frigates. _(Memo; At re-org meeting, ask Ayle who is actually taking possession of those ships. By our preliminary division of labor agreement, they'd all end up under me, but I'm not about to tread in her waters without her permission... and I'm not sure we could afford the crew's salaries or the repair costs without help in either case. At a minimum she should probably keep the frigates and the destroyer to escort her own shipping. ~ CK)_

 _ **Administrative:**_ Definitely the weakest part of the Xenthan branch, its only administrative units are recruiters scattered across the Lady's Xenthan Empire. With no secondary corporations or direct territory to tithe from, Administrator Ven would like to again warn that this makes the Xenthan branch extremely vulnerable to hemorrhaging credits if long-term contracts fall through. ( _Erana, remove the second part from the general release, the Captains don't need to know. And tell Ven that Ayle has a standing offer from T'Ravt for long-term employment of her regiments if required. ~ CK)_

 _ **Profit:**_ Xenthan Branch is still showing a gross profit from direct income and sold battlefield salvage. Post-Civil War, four Batarian-majority colonies in the Traverse, and another in the Dark Rim have agreed to preliminary contracts for garrison and security forces.

 _ **Recruitment Breakdown**_ **:** Data from Miss Kithan; 44% Batarian, 30% Turian, 10% Asari, 6% Krogan, 8% Terminus Quarian, 2% Human/Drell/Salarian

 _ **Projection:**_ Miss Ayle's current long-term plan is for twenty regiments in total, with sufficient transport capability to move all of them.

* * *

 **Illium Branch Update**

Our Illium branch has the smallest military force of our three branches, but has the largest administrative/civil department and currently maintains a higher profit (gross) than Xentha and Omega combined. This is mostly due to Miss Shaaryak's maneuvering of her personal business assets into the corporate harbor.

 _ **Regiments:**_ Currently the Illium branch has three regiments, two of which have been temporarily transferred to the Xenthan branch for the duration of the Hegemony contract. The third is still in training on Illium.

 _ **Administrative:**_ Miss Shaaryak owns controlling stakes in nine major corporations on Illium, and profitable stock in twenty more. This is not including her 'supervision' of Khar'shan Minor, although as the vast majority of the income she taxes is used for public works, it contributes very little profit. it. She has recruited a suitably vast civilian staff to assist in managing these affairs, as well as two regiments worth of security staff to protect her factories. ( _Erana; also note that it doesn't include her assets on Khar'shan, for whatever those will be worth when the civil war ends)_

 _ **Naval Forces:**_ The Illium branch currently owns three troop transports (Turian model _Imperator_ class, so they are both armed and armored), as well as two Batarian frigates given as war salvage from the Hegemony fighting. They also manage a large mercantile shuttle fleet along with ten bulk haulers.

 _ **Profit:**_ As noted above, the corporate profits being brought in are extremely high thanks to Miss Shaaryak's focus on military products.

 _ **Recruitment Breakdown:**_ Data from Miss Shaaryak; 78% Asari, 20% Batarian, 2% Other

 _ **Projection:**_ Miss Shaaryak currently plans on her three existing regiments, along with three to five potential 'light regiments' consisting of three Hunting companies with no Line forces. ( _Memo; need to discuss this further, has potential to be merged with Ayle's light response concept.)_

* * *

 **End Message**

* * *

 _Just a quick little update on how all three branches of the Blades are doing. I know I promised Nikita and Magnus chapters at the start of this, those will be coming soon. In the meantime, if anyone has any requests, please let me know._

 _ **Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."**_

 _ **P a treon Zach_K2V**_

 _Thanks, Kat_


	10. The Huntress: Reclaimed Memories

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

 **Reclaimed Memories**

 _The Huntress_

 _Here we finally get the promised chapter from Nikita's point of view... it's going to tie into what happens in Einherjar, Chapters 3-7 through 3-10. It's not going to be a particularly happy kind of chapter, so be prepared in advance._

* * *

"Come on Nikita, up you get." A cheerful basso was accompanied by a broad hand grabbing my slender limb, gently hauling me up to my feet. "We Russians have to stick together."

I could only groan in reply, trying not to sag against Jaime's broad frame. He stank of sweat, entirely reducing the level of interest his well built body might have caused. From the lack of shameless flirting as my covered breasts rubbed against his side, I probably didn't smell much better. Or maybe we were both just too damned exhausted to play our usual game.

"Come on." He urged, gently pushing me back into motion. "Can't let that chatty Mongol bitch or that angsty Scottish asshole beat us, can we?"

"Yeah... right." My eyes managed to focus in time to see our competition, the other two members of our 'cabal' out ahead of us. Both looked to be as exhausted as we were, their white clothing run through with sweat, but were relentlessly pushing themselves onwards towards the distant finish line.

Groaning again, I pushed off as best I could, stumbling into a shuffling jog as I got moving again. Jaime quickly lumbered along in my wake, his black beard twitching as he panted. We were in the last leg of the day's training exercise, which had been even more brutal that usual in that we'd had to _double_ the usual run-swim-run-shoot-run-spar-shoot-run pattern that our trainers had been running us through. Once we'd reached the usual finish line, we'd had to double back and repeat the entire goddamned process.

A glance behind us made me relax a little, the next team was still extremely far behind us, cementing our continuing position as the best of the cabals in the project.

The run to the end was little more than a tired, whimpering blur of motion as we ran through the long grass of Thessia, completing our circuit of the T'Ravt ancestral grounds. Despite Jaime's best efforts to get us moving faster, Ciarán and Enkhtuyaa had long since collapsed onto the ground before we arrived, a tastefully dressed Lady Mishi smothering a grin as we stumbled across the finish line to drop beside them.

"I see Team Five continues its tradition of excellence." The Matriarch's youngest daughter shook her blue head in bemusement, noting our time down on her omni-tool. "Your monopoly of the leave passes continues for yet another week."

I weakly pumped a fist into the air, which drew a breathy laugh from the head of our training.

"Bonus markers as well," She continued, "For all of you. Kerensky's refusal to leave an ally behind, Korolev's analyzation of what targets to take first, Enkhtuyaa's patient appraisal of the tides, and MacKinnon's... creative interpretation of the rules against sabotaging your competition."

I blinked at the last, then covered my eyes with a dirt covered hand as I groaned his name. " _Ciarán_..."

"Oh fuck off." The wiry Scotsman muttered back, his rapid breath not diminishing his accent in the slightest. "We bloody won, didn' we?"

I couldn't exactly argue with that, so I settled for trying to catch my breath and ignoring the stabbing pains running through my lungs. Our physical training was by far my least favorite part of this, especially since it was all callisthenics and endurance crap. I much preferred the investigative and analytical training courses that I was in, even though I wasn't with my team for those.

Not that I could make any sense of the engineering crap that Ciarán studied, or the medical texts that Enkhtuyaa read, nor keep up with the commando training that Jaime was receiving above and beyond our basic combat regimens. But then again, that was the entire point. Five teams of four specialists each, all of our skills intended to work in concert with one another to serve the Republic that had saved us from fates worse than death.

No... that wasn't right... was it? They'd-

 _Betrayed us!_

I jerked at the sound of my own voice, blinking to find myself in another place, another time.

"I'm just saying." Jaime drawled, his heartbeat languid in my left ear, my head resting on his bare chest. "It took you long enough."

My skin flushed at the double entendre, "It did not!"

He laughed, a hand idly tugging the sheet a bit higher over our naked bodies. "I've been flirting with you for the last six months, I was wondering if you just weren't into men after I saw you ogling Tuya."

If anything, my flush worsened. "At least I don't constantly stare at the huntress who picked me up. I thought you were just trying to make her jealous."

"Zero?" Jaime snorted, "I like the girl, don't get me wrong, but she's not you. Although... if you're open to that kind of thing, a threesome might be-fuck!"

I pulled harder on his chest hair, just to make my irritation clearer. "No. No threesomes."

A snort that didn't come from either of us made my eyes widen, as Scottish drawl echoing in our team's room. "That's a goddamn relief, I don't have any brain bleach around."

"Ciarán." Jaime groaned, his own pale skin reddening as he looked over my shoulder. "Get out."

"Last time I checked, you weren't our leader." The voice retaliated bemusedly, footsteps echoing as he began to move about the room. "That would be the girl burying her face in your chest, and whose pale ass is sticking out of the sheets and leaking onto the floor."

Oh god. I hurriedly yanked the sheets over my rear, mortified beyond words. " _Ciarán_ "

"Oh calm your bloody shit girl. I'm Xenthan, remember? I stopped caring about seeing people having sex by the time I was twelve. Bloody lowborn prostitutes not understanding that beds are better than alleys..."

Shockingly, that didn't make me feel any better. " _Ciarán._ Out! You can get your fucking book later!"

The sound of pages snapping together preceded his words, more footfalls moving towards the door. "Already got it, but fine, fine, I'm leaving. I'll tell Enkhtuyaa that we aren't welcome for a while if you want to go another-"

Jaime all but snarled, "Out you fucking dick!"

Quiet, mocking laughter was the only reply, the sound cutting off as the door slid open and then closed behind him.

"I hate him." I muttered. "I hate him _so much._ Why are we friends with him again? We should just shoot him in the next live-fire drill."

"As tempting as that is," Jaime sighed, "He's too useful to kill and he knows it. Plus Tuya would complain that we took her man-toy away. Still... he had a good idea."

Blinking, I pushed myself up a bit to better look at him. "What idea? Wait, no, I'm way too-"

 _My Jaime... he was once so..._

One moment I was being rolled onto my back, feeling my legs spreading of their own accord... the next I was somewhere else, my mouth was moving without input from my mind, and panic thrummed in my chest as I realized I was merely an observer in my own body. "You're being paranoid, why would she lie to us?"

Ciarán snorted, pacing furiously across the showers. The tinny whine of his cobbled-together jammer making sure that no one could hear us, our team disguising our clandestine meeting under the cover of cleaning ourselves.

"Why wouldn't she?" He growled back, "We were all desperate, all in shite situations."

"Enkhtuyaa?"

His Mongolian lover sighed, her exotic, lanky body leaning against one of the stall doors. "I agree with him; We still don't know what happened to teams one and three. Yeah, they couldn't keep up and we knew they'd wash out... but why won't anyone _tell_ us what happened to them? And if we're supposed to serve the Republics, how come we only ever work with House T'Ravt?"

I winced at the points, then glanced at my own partner. Jaime grimaced, his normally jovial features drawn as he rubbed a hand across his shaved head. "Shit... I don't know. T'Ravt is a hard old bitch, but she's treated us fair, and we're finally being let out on an actual mission in the Traverse next month."

I swallowed, "I hear a 'but' coming."

He nodded tiredly. "But they've got a point, love. Where's House Vasir? Or House B'Sho? Where are the Republic Intelligence agents who should be evaluating us? Fuck, where are the Spectre agents she said we might end up supporting?"

"And then there's... all of us." Tuya murmured, glancing almost worriedly at her lover. "I mean, we're mostly discreet, and I guess they'd give us some leeway about relationships since we're the best team... but why hasn't anyone said anything positive or negative about it? It's like they're ignoring it entirely."

My hands reached up to rub furiously at my face "All right, say I buy that she's not being honest with us, and that... whatever happened to the other teams worries me too... what do we do about it?"

"You're our leader." Ciarán reminded me, his wiry body slowing its pacing as he regarded me seriously, his body unconsciously stiffening into stiff Batarian mannerisms as his worry saw him default to old behavior. "What do you think we should do?"

I let out a long, tired breath. I'd been worried at least as long as the paranoid ex-slave, my investigative training letting me piece things together as quickly as he could. But I'd also been doing everything I could to keep up a brave face so that I could be the rock that my friends needed. As much as they tried to hide it, none of them were exactly pillars of stability... Tuya and Ciarán especially.

And we _owed_ Matriarch T'Ravt so very much... she'd killed the men about to rape me, rescued Ciarán and Jaime from slavery, and healed a dying Enkhtuyaa. But.. dammit. Tuya's point on the sex had been one that I'd missed. Asari were open about relationships, sure, but they were also very chatty about said relationships and almost never shy about digging for details and seemed to adore teasing each other about flings.

So why hadn't any of them said anything about me and Jaime, or Ciarán and Tuya?

"We keep our ears open." I decided. "For the next three weeks. We don't ask stupid questions or act unusual. Jaime? I want you to chat up Zero about the mission, see if she knows where we're going and what the plan is. Say you just want to be prepared in advance."

He grunted. "She'll buy that, we're always trying to get a leg up on the other teams as it is."

"Right. Tuya? I want you to be your usual bantery self. Talk with the other teams a lot, see if any of them are acting... off." She nodded sharply at that, and I turned to Ciarán. "You and I are going to do some discreet poking around in the databases we're allowed into. We'll stick to the records of teams one and three, our excuse is that we're seeing what made them fail so we can avoid their mistakes."

 _We knew something was wrong... we tried to figure it out... we just didn't understand how fucked we were._

Memories rose, then faded, then rose again.

"They definitely didn't just leave." Ciarán muttered from behind his antique book, the battered red leather and faded golden tree marking it as Tolkien's opus. "Tuya says Alexia saw the huntresses guiding them out to the shuttle pads one at a time, very late night stuff."

I frowned, covering the expression with a drink of water. The pair of us were enjoying our 'leave pass' we'd earned from the last training run, taking advantage of being permitted to lounge in the Matriarch's beautiful gardens to speak privately. The fountain we were leaning against should block the listening devices that we were sure were around, so long as we spoke quietly and kept our mouths covered to avoid lip reading.

"She get any other details out of her?"

"Yeah. They were... staggering around a lot, each of them had a handler helping them move." He replied quietly. "Like they were drugged."

Teeth bit into my lip as I fought to avoid grimacing. "Making them forget the training?"

"If we're giving her the benefit of the doubt, which I'm not."

"Yeah..." Unpleasant emotion roiled around in my chest before being ruthlessly pushed aside. I couldn't afford emotion right now, I needed cold logic. "Your vote is that we try it, then?"

"Yes." The word was barely a mumble. "Tuya agrees."

Air slowly escaped my lungs. "So do I. I'll tell Jaime.'

 _I failed... we failed... why didn't we realize it sooner... Prepared for months instead of weeks... We were... I was their leader...I should have done more... I failed us all._

I groaned as consciousness slowly returned, feeling hands tiredly pulling me free form the wreck of the ship. Memories came back as Jaime pulled me to safety, our mission, our attempt at escape.

For a few glorious minutes, we'd thought we'd made it. We'd landed on Carastes three days ago, and started trekking through the planet's wilderness towards our target. Once we'd found them, we'd spent a few hours preparing for both our actual orders and our personal mission, making our move just after local midnight. We'd taken down the tiny pirate operation in fifteen minutes, the Batarians not expecting the commando attack, secured their pinnace, and then signaled for the extraction team. The moment the four House commandos had arrived, had lowered their guards... we'd hit them as hard and fast as we could. They hadn't expected it, hadn't had their barriers up, and had died stunned and confused we'd cut them down from behind.

Jaime, as our only pilot, had quickly gotten the pirate vessel airborne, using the Turian ship's guns to vaporize the shuttle the commandos had arrived in before likewise taking out the backup shuttle even as it tried to boost away. We'd gotten airborne and swung around to the north, heading for the planet's only city, our plan to ditch the obvious ship and lose ourselves in the crowd of pirates, slavers, and other criminals. From there we'd try and steal a new ship, and then make our way to the Alliance, to see if we could find someone there to protect us.

Then something had hit us, _hard_ , and our engines had failed completely. Our eezo core had stayed online just long enough to prevent us from dying instantly when we hit the ground.

"What..." I coughed as my lover hauled my up into his broad arms, carrying me farther from the crash, following Tuya's slim form as she waved us into the trees. "What hit us?"

"Laser." Ciarán spoke from somewhere behind us, "From low orbit, I think. The cruiser wasn't supposed to be anywhere nearby..."

"They lied then." Jaime replied, his voice flat. "They didn't trust us as much as we thought they did."

Tuya grunted, glancing back, "Or something tipped them off. We're competing with Asari in spy-craft, keeping things hidden. It was always a long shot."

"Focus..." I coughed again, trying to get the smoke from my lungs. "Focus. We keep going north, away from the crash site. Tuya? You got your medical gear?"

"I do, soon as we find a good spot I'll need to-urk!" A blue flash slammed into her faster than my eyes could track, a huntress in black armor and leathers bearing her down to the ground with a sword at her throat.

Ciarán reacted on reflex, his pistol snapping up to shoot the Asari while his other brought his omni-tool to life with a gesture. Before he could use either the tool or his weapon, a second blur took him down, and a second later I found myself tumbling out of Jaime's grasp as more commandos announced their arrival with displays of biotic force, aimed weapons, and bared blades.

"Clever. Very clever, little monkeys." There was nothing warm or fun in Mishi T'Ravt's voice as she appeared above my prone body, a boot coming to rest on my throat. "If you had timed it a few minutes either way, you might have even made it."

"Do we dispose of them, mistress?"

"No." Our teacher shook her head once, her smile cruel. "Mother will want to speak with them herself. Bind them for the trip home... and give them a dose of compound three."

 _Pain. Pain. So much pain on the trip home. So many drugs... so many toxins... Mishi indulging her sadism. Beating us. Invading our minds, murmuring our dark secrets for everyone to hear._

 _I will kill that bitch if it's the last thing I do._

Everything was cold. I hugged my knees to my chest, staring at the white floor of my cell. I couldn't see the others, but I knew they were nearby, equally as trapped, equally as doomed.

"You acted earlier than I thought you would." Matriarch T'Ravt mused, making me glance up to see her beautiful features gliding past the tiny plastic window set into the blank door. She was dressed strangely, in Asari medical scrubs rather than in one of her usual elegant gowns. "I was going to remonstrate my daughter for taking so many of the House with on nothing more than suspicion, but instead I must reward her paranoia."

I didn't bother to respond to that, simply lowering my head to my knees again. Neither did the others... at least, I thought they didn't. The rooms were sound proofed, to keep us isolated, from talking with one another. Just like how the pure white walls, floor, and ceiling were intended to weaken our mental fortitude.

"I had intended to continue the charade for far longer, but the absence of my best team on such a simple mission will not be one I can easily explain away to the other teams. Perhaps I will allow them to thank you all for changing the schedule and cutting short the illusion of normality." She continued, her voice shifting to be heard from speakers somewhere in the cell. " _Still, do take solace. I did not lie when I told you all that you had been chosen for something greater, for the chance to become more than the miserable little aliens that you were born as_."

" _Matriarch_." A cool voice spoke, another Asari greeting her mistress. " _We are prepared to begin the process on Subject Nine. Lord-Who-Shatters-Stars has consented to take their turn in preparing the chorus."_

 _"Excellent."_ The Matriarch all but purred. A moment later the light above me flickered off, making me blink and glance up in time to see the entire right wall of my cell flicker to life with an image.

Jaime, nude, tied to an operating table with numerous Asari bustling purposefully around him. Incision marks were already prepared across his skull, and more than a dozen IV lines were connected to his arms and legs. His body was still, but his blue eyes were wide, and I could tell that he was uncertain, afraid.

" _I will give credit where it is due, you were my best team, the ones with the greatest potential to truly become what I needed._ " The tall form of Cynthi T'Ravt appeared in the image, stepping over to caress Jaime's chest. " _But we all must make sacrifices, and our initial tests seem to show that the more strain on a subject's mental faculties prior to the process yields better results."_

Mishi T'Ravt drifted in on his other side, dressed in the same medical equipment as her mother, though she'd bothered with the full mask and had equipment around her eyes. " _We're ready mother."_

 _"Good."_ The elder Asari gracefully stepped backwards, giving her daughter and assistants room to work. " _The process, dear humans, is not quite perfected. Insanity and death are more than likely, so I cannot waste those with the greatest potential. But you, dear Jaime... a common thug is not what I truly need, and so you will serve in another way. You will weaken the wills of your friends, and serve as the first example of my displeasure with your actions."_

My limbs began to tremble, as I whimpered, wanting nothing more than to stop watching, but unable to tear my eyes away.

They began with a greybox implantation while he was still awake. Four commandos kept him restrained biotically as he tried to scream, tried to thrash, tried to do _anything._ I kept myself still for a few minutes, then screamed and tried to break the screen with my fists, my legs, my elbows, _anything_ to stop seeing it. Hearing it.

I retched god knew how many times, then collapsed in a corner, covering my ears and screaming as well to try and drown out what they were doing to my lover. Another huntress arrived soon enough into that attempt, her biotics slamming me into a wall, locking me into stasis, _forcing_ me to watch as they continued.

Once the first procedure was done, the various lesser Asari had cleared out, leaving only the Matriarch behind. She had drifted around Jaime's trapped body, then carelessly removed his gag. He lacked the breath to do anything other than pant and gasp, sobbing quietly in agony... and then her eyes had rolled to black, and she'd touched her fingers to his temples.

My love screamed. Screamed without reason, without air, without anything resembling restraint, and he _kept_ screaming until nothing more than pained gurgles came out.

Things became blurry through the tears and sobs. I saw the Matriarch leave. Some kind of dark orb was inserted into the room from above, hovering above Jaime's broken, twitching body. It glittered with some kind of inner light, and his body abruptly ceased all motion as it flickered and glowed. It didn't even seem like he breathed until it was pulled back, his body collapsing limply on the stretcher.

Matriarch T'Ravt came in again, after that, once again melding with the broken man... though this time he didn't scream. He didn't even seem aware that it was happening.

 _He was just the first. Then she made us watch another. Then more... pain. Mishi, working on us. Laughing as she hurt us. As she... forced us to do things._

 _After... weeks.. months... time didn't have meaning, she didn't let us keep track... it was Ciarán who died next. She... she taunted Enkhtuyaa with it, with his role in her... game. He was... he was going to be made to lust after someone else. Some Asari. She... said consummating it would kill them both. That he would die in agony. We could hear Tuya screaming even through the walls... we wondered if they could hear us when Jaime had died._

 _Then it... it was our turn, on the table, with the orb. But she'd learned... to sedate her experiments. Breaking us first helped, but pushing us too far... she learned from what went wrong with Jaime, with the fact that he was insane from the start, that he remembered bits and pieces. Enough to hate her, enough to remember who Zero was. Enough to flee and plot against her._

 _Stupid old bitch... didn't realize we were already broken._

 _I was sedated. I don't remember what she did, not exactly._

"Liar."

 _No... no please, We don't remember more... don't make me remember more!_

"Her exposure is at eighty percent of the human baseline sir, we aren't authorized to go farther without approval."

A grunt, somehow echoing. Everything was echoing. "You think she's telling the truth?"

"The machines say so. Still, there's a lot of missing parts... we should still force to at least ninety, maybe ninety-five percent and see what shakes loose." Percent of... darkness lies beyond, my truths were just fragile lies, salvation lay in destruction... no... no that wasn't... that wasn't right.

"I agree, I'll ask the boss. Get this thing back to its cell."

More grunting. Hands touching me. Bare skin on metal. On cold stone.

I came back to myself as I retched, vomiting into the hole in the ground that passed for my toilet. The cell wasn't like the Matriarch's, it was more primitive, plain metal walls and a simple force barrier to keep me trapped inside.

"Oh good, it's still alive." A voice drawled from beyond the glowing blue wall. "You still sane?"

 _When we get out, we're going to kill them. All of them._

 _Agreed._ I spat the last bits of bile out of my mouth, then lifted my head up to glare at the two men beyond. Both wore white jumpsuits with black and gold trim, and the one who liked to taunt me sneered at my expression.

"Still sane enough to hate, I see. More promises that we're all going to die?"

 _Garrus will come. Aethyta will come. They'll massacre you all... and I will laugh as you scream._

I didn't realize that cynical Nikita had spoken that through my lips until the two men laughed, "That old whore. We crippled her before you got her out and you know it. Hell, we've got teams hunting her down right now... we know she's on planet, wounded, and has only that crazy Turian for help. It won't be long until she's back in her own cell."

"Maybe this time the Professor will let us indulge a bit." The other scientist muttered, his eyes flicking up and down my naked body with disdain. A petty cruelty, something to distract me, hurt me. Like the lack of a proper toilet, of the shit rations I was fed. Cerberus was trying, I would give them that, but they had a long way to go before they could match the Matriarch, much less Mishi.

 _Idiots, we've lived through worse than anything they can dream up._

"Not like I'd even want to touch this hairy Terminus bitch, at least with a blue you don't have to care about that."

"Christ Tim, always thinking with your dick. That blue would mindfuck you senseless if you touched her, that's why only mechs hauled her around." The two men kept bickering as they turned, vanishing out of a cell block that was empty but for me.

 _They'll come for us. They will. It's been a week, they'll have brought in help by now. We have to work out, as much as it hurts. We have to be ready._

"Yes." I murmured to myself, rising a hand to wipe at my face. I'd been bleeding from my eyes and nose again, though at least this time there wasn't anything from my ears or gums. I shook my head a little at the sight, then forced myself onto my back to start doing crunches. "We have to be ready."

* * *

 _First insights into just what happened to Nikita, Cieran, Jaime, and the other seventeen experiments. For those curious, yes, Enkhtuyaa is one of the 'twins' that have been referenced._

 _ **Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."**_

 _ **P a treon Zach_K2V**_

 _Thanks, Kat_


	11. The Matriarch: Project Firetree I

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

 **Project Firetree; Internal Report**

Blessed Matriarch,

As you have requested, I have compiled a post-project summary for our phase two program involving the acquisition and modification of human infiltrators for use in your plans. I have included anecdotes in the areas where I believe we succeeded, and those areas where we failed, so that we have greater odds of success in phase three.

Your faithful servant and niece,

Vesia T'Ravt

* * *

 **Initial Observation**

While I was not involved directly during this phase, I have studied the reports extensively. For the first eighteen months, the program ran entirely on track without any major issues. Teams One and Three failed the year one examinations, matching our projected rate of failure. Reports indicated that it was expected that only Team Five would pass the year two report and would be utilized for the Citadel insertion program. The remaining teams would be disposed of in incremental tests of the Process in order to insure that the chosen four survived.

Unfortunately the first combat exercise went... poorly, with Team Five attempting to affect an escape from the project and killing more than a dozen huntresses in the process. Shortly after they were returned and imprisoned, Team Four attempted to break them out of the prison wing, and honored cousin Mishi called for the entire program to be culled in favor of direct experimentation.

Having poured over the data available to me, I believe that the cause for Team Five's rebellion and the collapse of the project was a simple matter of the individuals in question. Electing to utilize human gutter trash may have allowed us to act quietly, but such individuals all exhibited paranoid traits as a result of their upbringing. Further, while our abbreviated explanation of their purpose worked for some time, the lack of further evidence that we were actually working towards that goal meant that their suspicions began to build up quite rapidly. Finally, the lack of tacit rewards for their success also lead to Team Five not showing any overt loyalty to yourself and the House.

Quite simply, once their suspicions were aroused, the fact that their greatest reward for their excellence was a mere weekend pass to wander our gardens meant that they did not feel as if they had any reason to _not_ risk escape. Cousin Mishi's... lack of emotional connection and lack of insight into the human psyche also likely contributed, as well as her orders to House commandos and huntresses to not approach the experiments. The experiments were thusly isolated amongst themselves and easily able to plot their attempt, with Mishi firmly believing that the fact that we had saved their lives the year prior the only motivation they needed to remain loyal.

If not for the random luck of Mishi adjusting her cruiser's orbit to avoid a firefight between slaving ships above Carastes, leaving her in a position to fire on them, Team Five would have easily escaped and the entire Glorious Crusade put at risk. My recommendations for Phase Three are thus;

 **One** , Instead of introducing the minders post-Process and utilizing minders who are not of the House, all minders should be from the family and introduced to the experiments early in the project. Friendships, true or feigned, should be cultivated to secure personal loyalty. Post-Process trauma being what it is, sexual relationships should _not_ be allowed.

 **Two;** Greater risks should be taken to ensure that our selections of Humans are from better stock than Phase Two's. We should avoid individuals employed in businesses that encourage suspicion and questioning, instead focusing on those encouraged to simply follow orders.

 **Three;** Experiments who prove their capability should be given more concrete rewards for their service. I understand that we cannot risk them leaving the compound, but I believe that larger rooms, higher quality food and drink, and minor luxuries should be given in order to show our appreciation for their efforts.

* * *

 **Individual Assessments** **of Batch Three Subjects**

 **Subject Nine**

 **Name:** Jaime Kerensky (09, Anad Krom)

 **Process:** Greybox Insertion, Meld Pattern Three - B

 **Specialization:** Combat and Tracking

 **Team:** Five

 **Description:** Forgive this faithful follower, blessed Matriarch, speaker for the gods, but I cannot describe Kerensky as anything but a failure in all aspects. Meld Pattern Three was not properly refined at the time of your use, destabilizing him almost at once while also failing to properly scour his memories. The personality imprint failed rapidly due to the failure of the initial meld to prepare his mind to receive it.

 **Time-line:**

\- Awakens in Nos Irrail, deceives Bera T'Ravt into believing that the Process was successful

\- Suborns Minder Neila B'Reik (Zero-One), fakes death and escapes into the rimward Terminus.

\- Operate as freelance assassins for the Blood Pack, heavily absorbs Krogan culture. Believed to also be searching for other members of Team Five during this time. Bonds deeply with B'Reik in order to try and forestall mental degradation.

\- Arrives on Illium after news reports reveal Subject Eleven's presence in Khar'shan Minor. Take employment with the True Sons against the Eclipse, eventually discover Eclipse orders to shadow Eleven and his minder at all times (Non-House minder Trena T'Laria not known as estranged daughter of Jona Sederis until recovery and interrogation of Nine).

\- Believe him to be safe and attempt to withdraw, are captured by Nightwind Cabals Red and Orange in Nos Irrail (three dead, two crippled, five wounded).

\- Orb extension tests conducted on Nine and B'Reik. Tests show only minor success, Nine dispatched to Omega during tests. During this time, encounters Eleven. Re-dispatched to eliminate rogue experiment. Krogan influence on Nine not fully appreciated, Bond resistance to indoctrination not fully appreciated, results in Nine partially subverting orders.

\- Nine kills Eleven's Batarian lover, fails to eliminate Quarian companion (We believe Eleven was not aware that Nine was not aiming for him at all). Returns to report failure of mission and is... chastised.

\- Nine discovers Eighteen's prison cell, utilizes bond resistance to assist B'Reik in breaking Eighteen and Nineteen out and dispatching them into the Terminus. Torture and mind rips fail to reveal destination, B'Reik had purposefully scoured the information from their minds prior to re-capture.

\- Further indoctrination tests conducted.

\- Tests complete, further tests not worth the effort due to mental degradation of subjects.

\- B'Reik dispatched to Omega in preparation for Project Silent Darkness, to be disposed of during the operation.

\- Nine is dispatched to support Emperor Ganar in his war, to be disposed of during the fighting.

* * *

 **Subject Ten**

 **Name:** Alexia Thorton

 **Process:** Greybox Insertion, Meld Pattern Three – C; Compulsion Pattern One

 **Compulsion Test:** Subject to give condensed report of pertinent actions taken upon reception of hypnotic command.

 **Specialization:** Combat and Tracking

 **Team:** Four

 **Description:** Subject ten can be evaluated as a partial failure. Advancement in meld techniques insured that the personality imprint properly took, however memory suppression was again only partially completed and subject's memories became jumbled between her real and implanted past. Compulsion rated as successful.

 **Time-line** : Subject disposed of by minder after one month, memory issues and instability too severe to warrant recovery or re-purposing.

 **Evaluation** : Success of compulsion on subject was likely due to the Process's partial failure, explaining why the same compulsion technique only partially took on the subsequent subject.

* * *

 **Subject Eleven**

 **Name:** Ciarán MacKinnon (Cieran ul Kean)

 **Process:** Meld Pattern Four – A; Compulsion Pattern One

 **Compulsion Test:** Subject to develop romantic attachment to specific target

 **Specialization:** Mechanical Engineering

 **Team:** Five

 **Description:** First subject evaluated as success in most categories. Memory clear during meld successful, personality imprint successful, compulsion imprint partial success. Subject was intended to consummate relationship with non-House minder within one standard year (the estimated lethal duration of the post-process effects); thus eliminating both loose ends. Instead, subject only demonstrated deep platonic attachment.

 **Time-line:** See open report for full details.

 **Evaluation:** Eleven's undergoing of the Process without cybernetic reinforcement of his brain was initially viewed as a risk, however the success seems to indicate that such equipment is not truly required. Of far greater import is the melding process itself, particularly in the preparatory phase. Eleven was used, properly, as a baseline for all subjects that followed. The chain of events that allowed him to evade disposal or recycling was not a direct result of the Process so far as I can tell.

* * *

 **Subject Twelve**

 **Name:** Sanada Hirako

 **Process:** Meld Pattern Four – A; Compulsion Pattern Two

 **Compulsion Test:** Subject to exhibit subtle obedience to minder

 **Specialization:** Mechanical Engineering

 **Team:** Four

 **Description:** First subject evaluated as success in all categories. Memory clear during meld successful, personality imprint successful, compulsion imprint successful.

 **Time-line:**

\- Subject implanted on Omega with minder as a restaurant owner. Compulsion tests completed without issue.

\- After evaluation period, decision was made to leave subject in place to observe long-term effects of the Process on the human mind. Secondary consideration given to pushing Subject Twelve into place to be recruited during Phase Three.

\- Combat training initiated by minder to increase success of secondary objective.

\- Subject discovered by Subject Nine during indoctrination range test on Omega, Subject Nine was able to move out of indoctrination range long enough to kill the minder assigned to Twelve in an attempt to 'free' him. During the struggle, Twelve was coerced via compulsion to intervene, and was killed as well.

 **Evaluation** : Given that our initial program called for sixteen experimental subjects before a final group was put to the Process, that you achieved stability with only twelve can only be described as an incredible feat, honored Matriarch. The loss of Twelve as a long-term evaluation was a minor setback, but the time-frame of long plan means that even a short duration of the subjects is not inimical to our goals.

* * *

 **Report Incomplete; Batch Four analysis still underway**

* * *

 _A bit more on the other experimental subjects, and some details on what Krom was up to and the specifics of the other batch three subjects (The final test run before the five who ended up on the Citadel as chosen candidates). Also a revelation as to what the entire team process was about in the prior chapter._

 _ **Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."**_

 _ **P a treon Zach_K2V**_

 _Thanks, Kat_


	12. Cerberus: Asari Culture

I don't own the Mass Effect.

 _Just a bit of world building that struck me today, and wouldn't let go of my brain until I got it out. Hopefully it is of interest to everyone._

* * *

 **Cerberus Report: Asari Culture**

Miss Lawson,

At your request, I have compiled all of our available data on the Asari species, in particular their culture as that is my primary specialization. As you have indicated that this material is to brief new recruits into the organization, particularly those who may not have the good sense to both fear and respect the eldest active species in the galaxy, I have included information that I would normally have simply skipped over.

Professor H. Collins

* * *

 **Historical Notes**

I will not bore you or anyone else with the Asari's official history before the founding of the Citadel Council, or with the easily accessed records of what came after the Rachni Wars.

Instead I will focus on that specific pair of events, beginning with the inconsistencies that surround the formation of the Council. Official records have the Asari discovering the Citadel in 580 BC, with the Salarians arriving in 520 BC, and the Council being formed at the end of 500 BC. I am comfortable in stating that all of the dates above are utter fabrication, intended to deceive other species and ensure that the Asari and Salarians present a unified front.

Exact translations of the original Citadel Accords read more as a dictation of peace terms to a defeated enemy, with numerous clauses intended to insure lasting peace between a pair of rival but exhausted nations. Clandestine research in clusters on the edge of Salarian space, near the galactic core, reveal planets that had suffered from heavy levels of nuclear and kinetic bombardment sometime between 800 and 600 BC.

Quiet interrogation of elder Krogan and Outcast Matriarchs shed more light on the times in question, mostly through stories they remember their own elders telling them, though hard data is impossible to come by at this point. The Salarians likely removed this unpleasant section of their history with ease, and any difficulties the Asari may have had undertaking a cover-up were likely resolved by the damage suffered in the Rachni Wars.

Our best guess is that the Asari and Salarians engaged in at least two, possibly as many as three interstellar wars over the course of several centuries, beginning between 900 and 800 BC and culminating in the Citadel Accords in 500 BC. Which of the two nations was the victor is a matter of conjecture, but the incontrovertible fact that the Asari lead most of the Council's actions in the early centuries seems to point to their status as the premier species and likely 'winner'.

While these wars were, in all probability, extremely brutal, they paled in comparison to the Rachni Wars, which remain the single most defining moment in Asari history even two thousand years later.

Prior to the conflict with the Rachni, the Asari Republics bore very little resemblance to what we would consider modern Asari. They were a highly fractious lot, with several armed revolts triggering drastic changes to their governing body, along with the rise of numerous 'Warrior Houses' who competed viciously for money, territory, and pride. Matriarchs engaged in biotic duels over grudges real and imagined as often as they engaged in debates. It is likely that these events were at least partially influenced by the Salarian Union, and if not for the Rachni Wars, the Republics would have likely broken apart into numerous, competing nations.

I do not mean to make light of the losses of our own species in the First Contact War, but the eye-rolling that the Asari tend to engage in whenever we complain of that fight entirely makes sense when compared to the savagery of that engagement. To writ, during the entirety of the conflict with the Turians, slightly over one million humans were killed, mostly civilians caught up in the bombardment of Shanxi.

During the Rachni Wars, the Asari _estimate_ that forty-five percent of their species died, including five of their seven 'warrior houses' who were exterminated down to the last maiden. It was, by and large, a cultural and economic blow that the Republics have never fully recovered from, and marked the last time that the Asari engaged in what we would consider traditional warfare. Their military was rebuilt into the commando and huntress patterns we see in modernity as they moved towards the Salarian ideal of winning wars before they began.

This has often been derided, particularly by Turians, in the wake of the follow-up Krogan Rebellions, with amateur scholars finding it easy to blame both species for not 'standing up to the Emperor' and lacking 'the proper militaries to bring him to heel'. But the sad fact of the matter is that the Asari and Salarians simply didn't have the capability to rebuild as quickly as the less-damaged Krogan, and even if they had, the recent memory of billions of dead Asari soldiers and civilians wasn't something they could simply 'get over'.

For more information on Asari history, see: _The Eldest River_ by Matriarch Fesha for a relatively balanced view, or _Drowning Tides: Growth of the Thessian Empire_ by Professor A. Gates for a... more proactive take.

* * *

 **Modern Culture**

I am aware that the historical section above was very short, but I intend it only as a reference point to explain how Asari culture has reached its current point. The modern Asari Matriarchs are the great-grandchildren of the survivors of the Rachni Wars, and have shaped their species based upon the lessons passed down from their grandmothers and mothers.

The Asari are, even more than Turians, _extremely_ conformist. There is immense pressure on even the youngest maidens to fit in with other Asari around them, to obey their mothers in all aspects of their lives, to heed and muse upon the wisdom of Matriarchs, and to always favor words over violence. Asari who are more than a century old are very difficult to suborn, are slow to adjust to points of view that did not originate from an Asari, and dislike rapid cultural shifts. They tend to be extremely proud and arrogant, and dislike being corrected by their 'lessers' unless confronted with blatant facts. Further, the ability of Asari to undertake momentary shallow melds with nothing more than a touch, conversing and sharing ideas at the speed of thought, allows them to resolve internal disputes in utter silence and with extreme haste.

What all of this together means politically is that the Republics are the most unified of the various nations, and it their 'political parties' vary so little on their platforms that it's a wonder why they have them at all. Their largest internal arguments generally revolve around how much authority the Council of Matriarchs should wield in comparison to the Republics Assembly. Externally, most Asari see other species as beings that need guidance and looking after.

Culturally they view Salarians as their primary rival, as they are adept at the rapid shifts and quick-thinking that elder Asari often struggle with. Unfortunately for everyone else, the Asari fully grasp the concept of keeping one's friends close, and one's enemies closer, and they maintain a very tight alliance with Sur'kesh; combining Asari long-term planning with Salarian short-term problem solving. For are own part, humanity's rapid advancement has left them rather nervous about us as well, though the fact that only three decades have passed means that most Matriarchs have yet to make up their minds about our species one way or the other.

Asari are extremely social beings, and isolation is not something they handle well, to the point where they prefer to sleep in groups upon large, lounge-like beds rather than alone as with most other species. In the absence of defined authority, a group of Asari will naturally follow any Matriarch who is present, or if there is not one, seek a consensus opinion before undertaking any group effort. Asari who are alone, or with aliens, will seek to maintain at least some level of control over what is happening, unless one of the aliens present is able to clearly demonstrate mastery over the problem.

 _Maidens:_ Young Asari are, far more than elder ones, very impressionable and open to changing their minds rapidly. There appears to be biological factors at work, including a kind of genetic wanderlust that encourages them to explore and migrate from place to place. This usually lasts from the end of their first century to the end of their second, at which point the biological shifts to Matronhood begin to occur.

Older Maidens and young Matrons are the largest change agents in Asari society, as their movements often carries them into places their Matriarchs would rather they not go, and absorb ideas that their elders want no part of. They are also the most common Asari to be met outside of the Republics, and are generally responsible for the false impression that many people have of the species as a whole. Asari society generally encourages this, as it allows their youth to 'get it out of their system' before coming home and slowing their lives down.

A final note, Maidens tend to be far less... prickly, and are much more forgiving than Matrons or especially Matriarchs.

My own paper; _Asari Culture: Thessian Gowns and Illium Knives_ , remains the only human work on the subject.

* * *

 **Asari and Sex**

Because most humans idiotically buy into the notion that Asari are all sex-crazed whores, I felt that this topic was deserving of its own section. The Asari consider humanity, and Turians for that matter, to be amusingly prudish. Most of this is due to simply biology. Asari, who reproduce only when they want to, have utterly divorced sex from reproduction and have never attached physical intimacy with either of their main-stream religions.

To most Asari, the act of sex is nothing more than a pleasant way to pass the time between friends, no different than humans going to a sports bar or Turians visiting a shooting range together. Fidelity is determined by maintaining only a deep-bond with only one partner at a time, and only have children with said bondmate, rather than any attachment to merely physical acts. Their casual attitudes aside, they are not 'sex-crazed' or 'addicted' by any means, and insinuating such typically annoys them.

A further note, while Asari are generally very open about who their partners might be, the idea that all Asari take alien lovers is largely absurd. The prejudice against 'purebloods' is mostly a Thessian cultural issue, stemming from several notable Ardat'yakshi rampages four centuries ago.

Most Asari prefer to only sleep with other Asari, or failing that, aliens that _look_ something like other Asari. Drell, Quarian, and Human women are the most preferred alternative options, followed by males of the same species in the same order. That being said, the sheer population of the Republics insures that the minorities who do decide to take alien bondmates are very numerous, and Asari typically have the fewest problems overcoming someone's appearance in favor of their personality.

* * *

 **Asari and Warfare**

I will speak less on the... chaotic and byzantine organization that is the Republic military, and instead focus on the Asari's outlook and goals when they go to war.

Much like their Salarian allies, the Asari prefer to win any engagement before it actually begins. The primary difference is that the Asari at least still retain _some_ morals, unlike the martian frogs. They disdain the very notion of 'overkill', instead believing in causing _exactly_ as much damage and death as required to break their enemy, and no more than that. Asari will only rarely resort to wide-area weapons and are exceptionally 'clean' when it comes to collateral damage as a result.

Modern Asari are generally not psychologically prepared to stand in a line of battle for long periods of time. They have hyper-focused themselves into an army of rapid action, best suited to short, pitched fights that allow them to strike and then fade away. Those cases where Asari are forced into a static defense almost always end badly for the defenders, even in situations where one would expect the Asari to easily hold out.

The sole exception to this trend is House B'mor, one of the two warrior houses to survive to this day. While House Vasir embraced the Commando and Huntress fighting styles, producing some of the most vicious Asari assassins to have ever breathed, House B'Mor remains the sole legacy of the ancient Republics: Asari trained and equipped to fight in open battle formations and mentally prepared to endure wars of attrition. They often cross-train with Turian divisions, particularly the Hierarchy's Asari-heavy Foreign Legions.

I was present as an observer during a training exercise between House B'Mor and the 1st Terran Infantry on Nova Scotia. The Alliance's best, supported by N7 teams and a brigade from the 11th Heavy Cavalry, were evaluated as dead to the last man within the first hour. I know it is not my place to make military policy... but I must state that Cerberus should _never_ attempt anything against a target protected by that family's legions.

Still, the Republics' general population are not disposed to support long campaigns. They expect their commandos and massive navy to abuse its skill and technological superiority in order to resolve conflicts before they truly begin. Conflicts that last for more than a few weeks can draw public ire in short order, with the Assembly demanding answers from the Admiralty and generally interfering in the proper execution of military policy. This can be mitigated if the Asari are not suffering many casualties, but even moderate losses often lead to sharp inquiries.

Primarch Calladus's ' _Warfare in the Council Age'_ is recommended reading for in depth examinations of Asari combat tactics from an external source, while Matriarch Aethyta's ' _The Dying Songs of War'_ goes greatly in depth on the cultural shifts that caused the Asari to move away from open conflict in favor of copying Salarian stratagems. _'Moon falling; Sun rising',_ by the same Matriarch, will likely give General Petrovsky food for though as she examined how the Sederis family utilized House B'Mor as inspiration for their Eclipse.

* * *

 **Outcast Asari**

Every nation has its outcasts, and the Asari are no exception. The Republic's demands for social conformity may result in a nation that is tightly bound by cultural constructs, but it also routinely spits out anyone who doesn't fit in. The vast majority of these outcasts find themselves in the spinward corridor of the Terminus, settling on one of the dozens of Asari-dominant worlds in that region of space.

It is far more difficult to simply categorize outcast Asari in comparison to their Republic cousins, as they are far less uniform. The Republic's general statement on them is that they have been 'corrupted' by the Batarian and Krogan influences of the region, and are deserving of pity. Considering that the Asari dominated the Terminus long before the Rebellions, and longer still before the Batarians were even a space faring species, this is largely politics and blame-casting.

Still, there is a kernel of truth in the declaration. Modern Terminus/Outcast culture is predominantly a mixture of new and old Asari ideals, mixed with elements of Krogan Imperialism. The Asari obsession with following the wisdom of their Matriarchs has shifted to an equal obsession with following strength and power, and their social nature has degraded into cliquish alliances, tight bonds between comrades, and little love for outsiders.

Most will still make an attempt to resolve a conflict with reason, but said reasoning often includes threats and blackmail in addition to cool logic. If their first negotiation fails, they will usually skip to violence instead of making another attempt. They generally have little to no respect for laws that are not backed up by force.

While I again caution against assuming all outcasts follow these, the teachings of exiled Matriarchs such as Carrathi and Ishil T'Sharea are extremely popular and can be considered to be the guidelines that most Terminus-born Asari live by.

Carrathi T'Sharea railed heavily against what she called the 'hypocrisy of civilization', especially the Council's clandestine efforts to maintain Asari and Salarian dominance at the expense of the Krogan and Turians. That the Matriarch's could casually cause stock markets to crash across the Hierarchy in the morning and then scream about the Turian's failure to protect Citadel worlds from pirates in the afternoon infuriated her on an almost primal level.

Her influence on outcast Asari is mostly seen in their desire to match actions and words, and their sneering dismissal of those who cannot defend themselves. As far as T'Sharea was concerned, if you were too stupid to adequately prepare to protect your own life in a dangerous galaxy, you deserved whatever happened to you. That the Asari had reduced themselves to the point where they had to trick and coerce Turians to do their fighting for them was an intolerable offense as far as was concerned. She is the most quoted Matriarch amongst Asari pirates, who justify their actions by her words, and many of her more militant teachings have been used in the formation of pseudo-national groups such as the Eclipse.

Ishil, Carrathi's bondmate, was slightly more reserved than her murdering butcher of a wife, but only just. She can be held responsible for the outcast's focus on Warlords and Queens rather than the usual Asari communal leadership, having fallen in love with the culture of the Krogan Empire during its short life as a galactic power. Her teachings mostly resolve around the opportunities granted to the Asari by their long lifespans, natural slow-burn regeneration, and biotic power, and how the Asari should utilize these advantages to their fullest to seize as much power as they can for themselves and their daughters.

Still, she also advocated that violence was to be a means to an end, and not something to be indulged in for its own sake. That killing, while not something to shy from when needed, was also almost never as efficient as alternative means of action. A dead enemy can not spread tales of strength, a dead farmer cannot be raided again later, a dead subordinate is someone who must be replaced. Her most important teaching, that wars of pride and posturing were a waste of everyone's time and resources that would be better used to building power in more subtle ways, is largely the reason that the spinward Terminus has seen far fewer massive conflicts than the coreward and rimward regions.

As loathe as I am to state this... any agent assigned to Illium or the Spinward Terminus should likely read Carrathi T'Sharea's _'Crucible of Strength; Terminus of Law'_ (yes; the manifesto that gave the Terminus its name) in order to better grasp the Asari mindset in that region.

* * *

Miss Lawson,

If you require more details that cannot be found in the recommended reading, please feel free to contact me. I am, as always, at your service.

Professor H. Collins

* * *

 **End Message**

* * *

 _ **Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."**_

 _Thanks, Kat_

* * *

 ** _Review Responses:_**

5 COloured Walker - 1-7 were basically just test beds for the process, and as it wasn't perfected yet, it killed them in very short order so there isn't much to say, while 8 survived to be brain dead on Thessia (as has been referenced). Anything on Batch Four (the Citadel group including Korolev) would be _very_ spoilery at this point. It will likely be in the next TWF.


	13. Cerberus: The Eclipse

I don't own the Mass Effect.

* * *

 _I know I did a brief one of these on the Eclipse in the last TWF, but I thought it was over due to create a full organizational table for them as well as going over the group's history._

* * *

 **Cerberus: The Eclipse**

Miss Lawson,

Your request for a full report on the Eclipse was an unusual one, but your reasoning that stage two of the Lazarus program might bring you into that region of space was well taken. I have consolidated all of the available data that we have on both the Sederis family, the Eclipse itself, and their allied groups.

Analyst Hastings

* * *

 **General**

By any species definition, the Eclipse is one of the most unusual organizations currently active in the galaxy. It is simultaneously a mercenary force, the army of a Warlord, the unelected government of the Outcast Asari, an umbrella corporation for dozens of other industrial concerns, and whatever else Jona Sederis decides that it should be on any given day.

As much as many likely wish otherwise, the Eclipse is unlikely to go away anytime soon, given its cultural place in the Terminus and Outcast Asari society. While derided as a criminal organization by the Council and Republics, it is the closest thing that the Outcasts have to a unified government and armed forces. Its membership has historically surged whenever the Repubics publicly give statements on Outcast society (typically pitying them or inferring that they would be better off returning to the fold).

Even if Jona Sederis was to be killed, a highly unlikely event to begin with, Leska Sederis would likely replace her mother with ease. If anything, AIS and our own agents are more nervous about the highly organized and cool Leska taking power than they are about her mother remaining in control. We view it as likely that Leska would go the additional step of actually creating a nation-state, formally unifying the Outcasts.

* * *

 **History**

Despite the Eclipse officially being founded as a private military group, in actuality the group was effectively a merger of three minor Asari houses: Sederis, Rassiel, and T'Laria. All three families were of little import politically in the Republics, and had combined together in an economic venture in the late 1800s that had failed miserably and left them all nearly bankrupt.

In a desperate attempt to reclaim some level of stability, Fea Rassiel and Herala T'Laria proposed the notion of creating a PMC using their family huntresses as a base, and were able to convince Matriarch Allia Sederis of the merits of such an idea. All three sold what land and interests they had left in the Republics and migrated to Illium, where they quickly purchased a small compound in Nos Irrail in 1896.

As Allia was far too old to undertake combat operations, she convinced her eldest daughter Jona to return from her mercenary life in the Traverse and take command. While Jona Sederis was unstable even at this point in her life, the attentions of the T'Laria mind healers did much to assist her mentally during the next two centuries. Jona, recognizing the value of good publicity and the limitations of the two hundred mixed commandos and huntresses under her command, focused on short-duration big-name contracts, often showing off her extreme personal power to garner media attention.

The Eclipse's true launch to fame, and the beginning of an empire, came in 1948, when a massive raid leaded by Weyrloc Busan attacked Illium. Accepting an emergency contract from the Board of Directors (in the order of _billions_ of credits both real and in investments), the Eclipse cleared a path through the attacking pirates for their Mistress to personally throw down the Krogan Battlemaster and his entire _krant,_ the battle being broadcast live across the extranet.

Illium being considered a Republic colony at the time, Jona Sederis quickly became a celebrity for leading its defense, and was awarded no fewer than seven martial awards by the Republics and Council. Seeing a chance to turn their small group into something far grander, Allia Sederis worked heavily with her daughter to expand as much as possible while they had a store of goodwill to draw from.

While the Sederis matriarch died of old age in 1985, by that point the Eclipse had already begun to blossom. Decommissioned Asari warships were sold at discount rates from the Republics, Jona's sister Reshi working closely with a young Leska Sederis to create a private navy to go with a blossoming army. The latter was mostly the work of Jona and her other sister, Yithina, the two using a combination of money, sex, blackmail, and violence to absorb a dozen other Asari-dominant PMC's over the course of several decades.

By 2028, the Eclipse had effectively black-listed all other major contractors from taking employment in the spinward Terminus. Those _Meshinvi_ who attempted to circumvent this found themselves dead at Jona's hands, their successors quickly bowing to their new Mistress and privately recognizing her as their Queen. But, while their expansion proceeded very well in the spinward zone of the Terminus, efforts elsewhere went poorly. Warlord Hakar the Sixth's Xenthan Empire brutally beat back both of the Eclipse's attempts to make inroads into the Maferath cluster, and the Salarian Trinity easily brushed aside the sole effort to establish a foothold in the coreward Terminus.

Further efforts at expansion were put on hold as the relationship between the organization and the Republics soured. Thessia's Council of Matriarchs had had plans for the Eclipse, and for the Outcasts of the spinward Terminus. Most of what we know of these concepts is conjecture, supported only by Sederis's own claims, but the data seems to track. Thessia's game appeared to be a long-term effort to stabilize, civilize, and then slowly absorb the wayward region, giving them a launching point to secure Omega from. A secondary plan was likely the creation of a full nation state, centered around either Illium or Caldesha, whose leader would be a de-facto vassal of Thessia, and capable of acting as a cats-paw or buffer state.

Unfortunately, Jona Sederis proved to be impossible to direct and control, partially due to her own personality, and partially due to the assistance of Herala and Armenial T'Laria in ferreting out Republic Intelligence agents attempting to infiltrate the organization's upper crust. Further, Illium's own colonists had increasingly begun to chafe under Republic restrictions, and voted to declare the world a corporate colony in 2060. While the Council of Matriarchs was outraged, the Assembly allowed the move, not having known their elders' plans for the world and focusing on the potential economic benefits.

Events came to a head in 2071, when a Nightwind team attempted to assassinate Jona Sederis while she was on Thessia, purchasing back the mansion complex her mother had sold nearly two centuries prior. While Jona survived the attempt, her sister Yithina did not. The Council of Matriarchs publicly called the event a 'tragic attack by rogue Ardat'yakshi', and offered sympathy and assistance.

The next morning, Republic news channels broadcast the severed heads of Matriarch Kallini T'Roa and Wesa B'Rosh sitting on the steps of the Justicar's Grand Hall, with the Eclipse logo branded onto their foreheads. Exactly why Sederis elected to kill these two Matriarchs is not known, but it is likely that she paid the Shadow Broker heavily to learn just who was running the Nightwind program at that time. The Justicars themselves immediately dispatched members of their ranks to hunt her, overriding the Republic Assembly's call for an arrest warrant and replacing it with a kill-on-sight order.

How Jona Sederis escaped to reach Illium is another mystery, one that only she likely knows the answer to. She remained on world for a very short time before relocating to the safety of Omega, officially placing Armenial T'Laria in command of the Eclipse in her absence. The efficaciously polite mind healer promptly hired a veritable army of lawyers, spending the next nine years fighting a public relations battle to clear Jona's name. Most of this was done by dredging up the memories of her defense of Illium, as well as by implying that the theatrical nature of the killings pointed to Jona being framed.

While I would not put it past the Nightwind to kill two senior politicians just to frame a target, I believe it is far more likely that Sederis simply had a mental break-down at the loss of her sister and didn't give a damn about the consequences in the moment.

By this point the Eclipse had become a shadow-empire in the Terminus. Powerful but not fully recognized, and mostly focused on quietly continuing to expand in the usual long-term Asari fashion. Unfortunately for everyone in the Terminus, the Black Night incident in 2080 would change everything.

Weyrloc Shiagur had not forgotten the brutal killing of her mate and children at Sederis's hands, and had been quietly creating a massive invasion force in the anti-spwinward Terminus. Supported by Ganar Yulaz and Weyrloc Zaen, she launched her invasion of Illium in a surprise attack that caught most of the Eclipse's Golden Armada elsewhere. The small Republic defense fleet was easily brushed aside, and the attackers utilized suicide-ships to ram directly into the planet's GTS defense centers to clear the path for the invading army.

While freelance pirates and opportunists raided Nos Astra and Nos Irrail, the female named for the famed Warlord lead a massive force of Krogan against the Eclipse headquarters just north of Illium's largest city. Ignoring their own casualties, the Blood Pack overwhelmed the defenders over the course of a single night of engagement, before making an open broadcast that showed Shiagur executing those few survivors. Known deaths include Armenial and Herala T'Laria and two of their five children, Matriarch Cala Rassiel and all three of her daughters, and three of Jona's fathered daughters.

Jona Sederis and the Golden Armada arrived in force two days later, along with three quarters of the entire Eclipse, and not even Turian news sites would show the resulting carnage. What records there are indicated that Jona herself killed Weyrloc Shiagur, but the casualties of the violent counter-attack were massive. Reshi Sederis died after being ambushed by Ganar Irinnis, the battlemaster dying in turn to an enraged Leska and Ithiri Sederis who tore him limb from limb biotically to avenge their aunt. Two of the remaining members of the core T'Laria family were killed, and it is believed that another of Jona's children died in the fighting.

The aftermath revealed an organization unified in hatred and purpose, but unified beneath a woman whose sanity had cracked entirely.

Officially declaring herself the Mistress of the Outcast in the Terminus, Jona began launching punitive campaigns against enemies both real and imagined. The Trinity Warlords were slain in 2100, Raik Ushen's empire was obliterated in 2119, and the last members of the Weyrloc clan not on Tuchanka were assassinated on Omega in 2130. The Republics quietly rescinded the Justicars' kill order against her in 2142, believing that she would likely overstep her bounds and be killed by Aria or Ganar Yulaz sometime within the next century. They did, however, maintain a low-priority order for her arrest in the investigation of T'Roa and B'Rosh's deaths, mostly to placate the irritated Justicars.

The Eclipse's numbers began to heavily wane around this time, members quietly deserting in droves to take employment elsewhere as Jona's behavior became more erratic. The Golden Armada remained largely intact due to deft maneuvering on the part of Leska Sederis, but many of their ships were quietly mothballed above Illium to save on operating costs as she and Volre Rassiel struggled to maintain the group's profitability. Ithiri Sederis, along with several of her half-sisters, 're-founded' the mercenary branch of the organization in 2150, and was allowed to create branches on Thessia and the Citadel after answering a few cursory questions about her mother's sanity, or lack thereof.

By 2180, only Jona's extreme personal power and her daughters' aversion to matricide were keeping her in place. Asari _Meshinvi_ openly courted Leska, irritably awaiting the day when she finally killed her mother and assumed the leadership role, and even Aria had banned Jona from setting foot on Omega after her last visit had resulted in a massacre over a perceived slight.

We do not have an exact date, but the situation within the Eclipse seemed to drastically shift around the time of the Blue Suns incident in 2180/81. Ithiri Sederis returned to Illium for the first time in four decades, bringing as many as six of her half-sisters with, and met with her sister Leska in Nos Irrail. Shortly after this meeting, and reinforced by numerous Elder Huntresses, the group migrated to the Sederis mansion outside of Nos Astra.

It is believed that this group ambushed and restrained Jona Sederis, and physically forced her to begin taking medication and to receive mind healing treatments. While the Eclipse Mistress continued to act the part of the raving lunatic in public, background events recorded by our agents clearly show a rapid turn-around in the Eclipse's fortunes. Wasted credits were finally invested appropriately, corrupt internal agents were executed as warnings to shape up, and crash-hiring and building programs were rapidly put into place to expand the group back to something like it had once been.

The recovery of Jona Sederis was not met with open arms by the Asari _Meshinvi,_ as they were most likely the first external force to realize that she had regained some measure of sanity. The Outcast Warlords had enjoyed a century with little oversight and few requirements from their 'leader', and the sudden demands from the Eclipse for war-time taxation, conscription, and economic targets was met irregularly. Perhaps a third of the _Meshinvi,_ those who actually believe in the ideals of an Outcast nation, responded promptly, while the remainder began to drag their feet. A few even reached out to Leska Sederis, demanding answers as to why the status quo was changing and insisting that she do something about her mother.

Much of 2182 through 2815 was evidently spent dealing with that particular situation. Seven _Meshinvi_ were killed and replaced during that timeframe, and another dozen were either convinced or forced to submit to Sederis. In 2184, a massive series of reforms began, completely re-organizing both the Terminus Eclipse as well as the Golden Armada into groups more suited to fighting large-scale engagements. Notably, the Eclipse PMC branches and the supporting units were largely left alone aside from minor changes.

* * *

 **Composition**

The Eclipse is heavily sub-divided between various internal organizations, all of which have specific tasks that they focus on.

* * *

 **Name:** The Terminus Eclipse

 **Commander:** Jona Sederis, Mistress of the Eclipse

 **Task:** Army of the Eclipse

 **Desc:** See section on the Eclipse's ground formations.

* * *

 **Name:** The Eclipse PMC

 **Commander:** Ithiri Sederis

 **Task:** Recruitment, Training, Income

 **Desc:** The only legal branch of the Eclipse in council space, this group primarily serves as a recruiting agency to evaluate volunteers. Those who pass the group's requirements are encouraged to emigrate to the Terminus to join the Terminus Eclipse, while those maidens simply enjoying a few rebellious years will be sent on their way when their contracts ended. In recent months, the Eclipses' facilities on Thessia were shuttered due to the increased political tension between Thessia and Illium, though the branches on Bekenstein, Omega, and the Citadel remain active. Plans are believed to be underway to establish a branch headquarters on Khar'shan, but we have no firm data on that.

* * *

 **Name:** The Golden Armada

 **Commander:** Admiral Leska Sederis

 **Task:** Navy of the Eclipse

 **Desc:** See section on the Golden Armada

* * *

 **Name:** The Morning Eclipse

 **Commander:** Matriarch Desa Rassiel

 **Task:** Support, Logistics, Taxation

 **Desc:** This is the largest branch of the Eclipse by membership, and serves primarily as the supporting infrastructure for the other facets of the organization. It is also the branch with the most aliens present within it, and is the only branch that our own agents have been able to infiltrate (albeit on a limited scale). Agents of the Morning Eclipse are responsible for collecting tithes from the various _Meshinvi,_ corporations, and colonists who live on worlds under Eclipse control. While all members must undergo basic combat training, they are not professional soldiers.

High ranking members of the Morning Eclipse are also responsible for managing the Eclipse's varied business interests across the Terminus. Most of this is handled by elder members of House Rassiel, whose members have remained quietly loyal to the Sederis family even in the darker years of Jona's instability.

* * *

 **Name:** The Evening Eclipse

 **Commander:** Matriarch Musio T'Laria

 **Task:** Medical Response, Mental Health, Internal Security

 **Desc:** The Evening Eclipse runs several private hospitals on Illium and has thousands of doctors on payroll, most of whom spend a great deal of time helping to train combat medics. They also have a large number of mind healers who work to help keep Eclipse soldiers psychologically healthy. It is believed that, much like the House B'Mor fanatics, that these mind healers also help shore up the soldier's psyches in order to make them better adapted to the constant warfare of the Terminus.

Unlike the Morning Eclipse, the Evening Eclipse does have combat agents assigned to it, though they are... unusual. Called 'Night Whisperers', they serve as the group's internal police force as well as... well, whores. All of them are Asari, all of them are highly attractive, and all of them are trained as vicious assassins who specialize in killing other Asari by somehow using their own biotics to negate their target's powers. When they are not tracking down traitors or infiltrators, they are... 'boosting morale', and using House T'Laria mental techniques to softly rummage through their lovers' memories for any signs of unusual activity.

* * *

 **Membership**

The vast majority of the Eclipse's membership is compromised of Asari maidens and matrons from the so-called Outcast colonies in the Spinward Terminus. Republic Asari are largely restricted to the PMC branch, and are generally required to officially emigrate if they wish to join other branches. Aliens are most commonly found in the Morning Eclipse, though non-Asari numbers are picking up in both the Golden Armada and in the Evening Eclipse.

They are also the only major Terminus organization to not discriminate against Salarians, who often find employment in the Omega PMC branch.

* * *

 **Ground Forces**

The modern Eclipse could be considered a dark mirror to the Republics' warrior House B'Mor. This is by design, Sederis having consciously sought to emulate the Asari's last great soldiers in order to possess an army capable of holding her territory against any attacker. With that being said, she is not so hide-bound as to avoid more modern trends, and also maintains Commando and Huntress teams for situation where small, elite formations are required instead of an army.

In terms of equipment, the Eclipse typically spends far better on weaponry than they do on personal protection, an understandable attitude when nearly all of their rank and file are biotics. That is not to say that they are equipped with poor or sub-standard armor, merely average gear in comparison to the expensive protection bought by units such as the Blade-Wind or Silver Blades.

Prior to the 2184 reforms (coinciding with the effective end of the Eclipse's involvement in Ganar's War), the Eclipse had no real pattern to their formations. One unit might utilize the traditional Asari formations and rankings, while another combined Turian regimental formations with human rankings, and yet another might use human divisions with Turian rankings; all depending upon the whims of the Asari in command of that particular sub-army.

After 2184, Jona Sederis issued a fiat to restructure the Eclipse army along the same lines as House B'Mor and the old Republic warrior houses in order to have a consistent organizational structure, though Leska Sederis's self-indulgent love for the old terms seems to have infiltrated some of the rank names.

The smallest formation of Eclipse sisters is much larger than most base squads, with an Eclipse 'Party' usually having twenty or so Asari, lead by an Ahra. Six parties are organized beneath a Hunt Mistress into a 'Cabal'. This is, essentially, the core formation of the Eclipse, and the level to which their majority of their supporting units are attached. Each cabal has a Commando or Huntress team attached, as well as sufficient shuttles to mark the unit as air-mobile. Six Cabals (six being the standard number of long-boats carried by Asari War Galleons in their ancient history) are grouped together into Formations (essentially regiments), six Formations come together to form an Echelon (roughly a light SA division), and six Echelons form an Army (coming out to around forty thousand soldiers once all of the supporting personnel, commandos, and other specialists are attached).

Currently, the Terminus Eclipse has Thirty-Eight Armies in total, for roughly a million and a half Asari soldiers. Analysis of arms purchases, base expansions, and coordination with the various _Meshinvi_ all paint an even more worrying picture. By the end of 2817, the Eclipse is likely to have a fifty-army strong military force, bolstered by the subordinate _Meshinvi_ who would be capable of contributing three times that number, though those forces would largely be only useful in their colony's defense.

Eighteen of their current armies are on Illium, though only five of them are believed to be rated as 'combat ready', with the others still filled primarily with trainees. Fifteen additional armies are located in the Hegemony, having been hired by the rebelling faction to supplement their ground forces, but are beginning to rotate back to the Terminus as the fighting there reaches its end. The remaining five are scattered across the spinward Terminus on garrison duty.

The Eclipse PMC can pull together four additional Armies, though their cohesion in large-scale engagements is likely to be noticeably worse, and their morale far lower.

This reformation and streamlining, tied together with the Eclipse's continued growth, their 'blooding' of many of their armies in the Hegemony, and their unusual alliance with once-rival groups seem to point to Sederis preparing to fight _someone_ in large scale ground combat... though whether this someone is the Republics, Aria, T'Ravt, the Geth, or the Reapers is unknown at this time.

 _Tactics_

While the Eclipse's ground formations are organized along the same lines as House B'Mor, they don't fight in the same fashion as those lunatics. The Sederis family instead pioneered a variation on the traditional Asari tactics into something more suited for attritional warfare, while not requiring her girls to stand on the line like Turians or Batarians.

The core concept was developed by Reshi Sederis in the 1900s, and focused on what she called 'the Tide of Battle'. The Eclipse, whenever possible, prefers to be on the attack in order to dictate tempo, and Parties and Cabals are trained to essentially engage in rolling patterns of constant attack and retreat, simultaneously probing for weak points and trying to lure cocky attackers into following or 'flanking' the attacking 'tide'. Unlike traditional Republic tactics, Eclipse commando teams are usually held back as reserves, put forwards only when a weak point has been identified, when an enemy has been lured into a kill zone, or when opposing special forces are detected.

Overall the strategy can be especially infuriating and successful against Krogan and Turian formations, but is weaker against defensively minded Batarians. If forced onto the hard defense, Eclipse Cabals will generally default to a multi-layered defense in depth that is aimed at funneling attackers into predetermined kill-zones. As with most Asari units, they dislike the idea of static defense or siege warfare, and prefer to avoid such things whenever possible.

If the Eclipse can be said to have a precise weakness, it is that they, like nearly all Terminus forces, are very light on both armor and anti-tank weaponry. If they can be said to have an advantage, it is that even their lowliest initiate is a biotic.

 _Biotic Techniques_

The Sederis family is noted for having pioneered one biotic technique that they refer to as the Lance. (Official AIS designation is the 'Scalpel' to avoid confusion with the N7:Adept Lance technique). Where most biotics hurl warpfire in broad streams or in spear-like attacks, the Sederis 'Lance' is more akin to a continuous, focused laser. It is likely highly tiring to utilize due to the high concentration required, and has a very short duration, but has a very long lethal range and an almost instantaneous travel time.

The lethality of the technique lies in that concentration. By focusing a massive amount of warpfire into a very small, continuous barrage, the Lance simply punches an equally tiny hole through a target's barriers before cutting through them in turn. Currently only members of the Sederis family are known to have been trained to utilize this technique, and only Leska Sederis and Trena T'Laria have been observed using it routinely.

A few Asari Matriarchs or Krogan Battlemasters could possibly survive being hit directly by this technique, but very, very few. Its greatest weakness seems to be the difficulty in aiming the stream on top of controlling it. T'Laria has only ever been observed using it at almost point-blank range, and Leska Sederis seems to prefer to be within fifty meters of her target. Jona Sederis has been recorded as killing a Battlemaster instantly at two hundred meters, but is also on the record as finding the technique 'boring' for the lack of challenge it offers.

 _Rankings / Notable Positions_

 _Initiate:_ An Eclipse initiate is typically a Maiden with two to ten years of training or combat experience. She is equipped with either a Priestess heavy rifle or a Tempest sub-machine gun, with an acolyte pistol as her backup weapon. Grenade load-outs vary, but most carry at least one HE device along with a stun model.

 _Eshe;_ The rank and file of the Eclipse, the title of Eshe (an old Asari term for an experienced huntress) is granted to an Initiate who has survived at least five combat engagements.

 _Ahra;_ Essentially a junior officer, responsible for commanding a Party. Usually equipped the same as her subordinates, though their better pay can see them purchase better armor for themselves.

 _Hunt Mistress:_ Mid ranking officers who command Cabals.

 _Hunt Captain:_ Mid ranking officers who command Formations.

 _Hunt Director_ : Senior officer who commands an Echelon.

 _Retra_ : Senior officer who commands an Army.

 _Sister:_ Not actually a rank but rather a title, to show that an Asari has passed whatever particular 'rite' that her cabal, ship, or PMC branch utilizes. Some are fairly benign (perhaps requiring the Asari to service an ugly member of the squad sexually), others are... less so (such as the Illium branch's notorious requirement for a cold-blooded murder). An Eclipse member who has passed this rite has the notation 'Sister' added before her name and rank.

 _Commando:_ These are the Eclipse's close quarters specialists. Most are at least fourth century Matrons, armed with shotguns, heavy pistols, blades, and carrying numerous grenades, they have a well deserved reputation as extremely nasty in-fighters who will utilize any dirty trick they can think up to kill their target. Those initiates who have any skill at the flash-step are usually tabbed for commando training once they reach the rank of Eshe.

 _Huntress:_ More in line with what people think of when it comes to Asari soldiers, Eclipse Huntresses operate in small, two to four women teams, and are most often snipers and infiltrators. In open battle conditions, usually act as scouts or are tasked with identifying and killing enemy officers from a distance.

 _Elder Sister:_ The Elder Sisters are the Eclipse's elite bodyguard formations for their command officers, and the closest thing they have to heavy infantry. All are at least five centuries old, have passed at least four initiation rites (all must be from different units), have been with the Eclipse for a minimum of one century, and must pass a brutal selection process and mind-healing certifications. Fantastically well equipped with medium weight armor (heavy by Citadel standards), often equipped with advanced heavy weapons, even one of them is a nightmare to deal with. Thankfully, most Eclipse armies don't have more than a hundred of them in total, and rarely actually deploy them unless desperate.

* * *

 **Naval Forces**

Funded by the taxation of the Outcast colonies and protection money paid by the Board of Directors, the Golden Armada is the third largest fleet in the Terminus systems after Die Waffe and T'Ravt's navies. However, as the bulk of both of those fleets are lighter raiding vessels, the Aramada is 'heavier' in the terms that they possess far more cruiser sized vessels than either of her rivals. Most of their modern vessels are built at Illium's shipyards or the smaller facilities on other Outcast colonies. In the past, vessels were also purchased from Aria or other warlords, though this ceased after Sederis's mental break.

Traditionally divided into four 'fleets', each with a different area of responsibility. The largest, in the wake of the Black Night, has been centered above Illium to protect the corporate world with the second major detachment is based out of Omega. The Third detachment protected the relays of the Illium Way, the main trade lane that connects the other Outcast colonies to Omega and Illium. The Fourth, and smallest, detachment primarily served as pickets and pirate hunters protecting the colonies proper. In the wake of Ganar's war, and the relative 'stability' in the Terminus, the third and fourth detachments have been folded into a single fleet which was then dispatched to fight in the Hegemony Civil War. With that conflict now resolved, it is unknown just where it will be assigned.

Tactically, the Armada fights in a similar fashion to Republic fleets, being highly aggressive with their larger ships and relying on overlapping fields of fire from large cruiser formations. Strategically, they are cautious as to not provoke the Republics or Aria, but they show little hesitation in engaging anyone else that threatens their territory.

 _Ship Types_

 **Dreadnoughts:** 2 - _Solar Eclipse, Blade of Vengeance_. Both are traditional Republic dreadnought designs, resembling scaled-down versions of the _Destiny Ascension,_ and despite relying on older Asari technology, they are still more advanced and far larger than even the newest Alliance equivalents. The _Blade of Vengeance_ was purchased directly from the Republics during the Eclipse's height, while the _Solar Eclipse_ was actually discovered as a drifting hulk near the galactic rim, a relic of a failed punitive campaign against Omega's Patriarch several centuries ago. More than a decade of repairs above Illium were required to fix the vessel, which now serves as the Armada's flagship.

 **Carriers:** 1 – _Thousand Cuts._ The only known dreadnought-carrier outside of the Alliance, and the only major Eclipse vessel commanded by a human. She carries a much smaller fighter wing than her Alliance competition, but superior armor and point-defense weaponry. Much like our own vessels, she is capable of carrying a massive number of ground troops and deploying them rapidly.

 **Light Dreadnoughts:** 7 – Technically referred to as Battlecruisers, they are in truth Dreadnoughts that just happen to fall below the length requirements to refer to them as such. Four are of Turian influence, built at the Stormwall yards two centuries ago, while the other three are Batarian patterned and purchased from Aria (who bought them in turn from the Hegemony).

 **Heavy / Line Cruisers:** 287 – The bulk of the Eclipse fleet is a wide variety of cruiser types in the Asari styles. All are older designs, even the new construction, but they are kept in fastidious condition and are upgraded regularly where they can be.

 **Light Cruisers / Destroyers:** 67 – Most of these vessels are refitted light cruisers specifically configured to hunt down independent operators stupid enough to raid or cheat the Eclipse. A rare case of mercenaries actually designing something well, the Alliance's _Cairo_ class Corsair ship is essentially an improved copy of the Eclipse's old _Dusk Spear_ class.

 **Frigates:** 142 – The Eclipse has curiously few light vessels, typically relying on light cruisers and destroyers for the same tasks that most other navies would trust to frigates or corvettes.

* * *

 **Houses and Core Families**

The Sederis, Rassiel, and T'Laria families remain as the core leadership of the Eclipse, even in the modern era. Of these, House Rassiel maintains the most direct wealth, followed closely by House Sederis. House T'Laria suffered the worst in the Black Night affair, losing nearly three quarters of the family, with most of the survivors being young maidens and distant relations who were quickly adopted into the central fold.

 _House Sederis_

Lead by Jona Sederis after her mother's death, the core family has slowly been whittled down to her and the two children who she birthed, but the extended family has grown massively since the Eclipse began. The family is noted as being oddly powerful for a minor clan in terms of their natural biotics, and excepting Jona, is also recorded as having very fine levels of biotic control even during their maiden years.

Unusually for Asari, the Sederis family has a long history of leaving fathered children in their wake wherever they go... which is decidedly unusual considering Asari reproduction. Either they are exceptionally talented at seducing and convincing young maidens to carry their children, or there is something more sinister at work. In either case, the family currently constitutes a hundred or so Asari bearing the Sederis name matrilineally, and perhaps as many as a thousand adoptees / fathered Asari. All members of the family are expected to join the Eclipse, though they are not required to actually join combat units. Perhaps half do, while the remainder serve in the Evening or Morning Eclipse.

Given their respective ages, it is believed that both Leska and Ithri Sederis have given birth to at least one daughter each, but they are sensibly protective and paranoid enough to conceal and protect said children.

 _House Rassiel_

Lead by Matriarch Desa Rassiel, this minor clan was often derided as being cursed by Athame for the string of misfortune that plagued them for most of their existence. Initially achieving some renown during the Krogan Rebellions and expanding in the aftermath, investment and political blunders quickly stripped them of most of their influence and left them adrift. Helping to form the Eclipse heavily improved their stature, though most members of the family are noticeably paranoid and risk-averse, not wishing to lose what they now have.

Unlike the Sederis and T'Laria families, the Rassiel are not committed to serve in the Eclipse at birth and are encouraged to find their own path. Most end up joining anyway for the steady paychecks and chance for adventure, but there are several branches of the family that heave elected to setup on Illium and peacefully run smaller businesses.

As a general description, members of the Rassiel family tend to be far more approachable and, well, 'normal' compared to Sederis or T'Laria. Matriarchs from the family are often used as the Eclipse's variation of diplomats when the organization wishes to appear on its best behavior.

 _House T'Laria_

Never a populous clan, the T'Laria have long had a reputation as excellent but secretive mind healers who toed the line of what was considered morally acceptable. A vassal of House B'Mor, they likely pioneered the mental techniques used to influence that family's warriors, but were evicted from Thessia after an Ardat'yakshi born to the family Matriarch killed five senior members of the warrior house before being put down. After said Matriarch killed herself in grief after having to slay her own daughter, Herala T'Laria quietly allied the family with the Sederis and Rassiel clans.

A very, very strange group by Asari standards, even before they helped form the Eclipse. They are known to be extremely secretive, prone to cutting profanity, loath publicity, and openly shun communal connections in favor of very small groups of tight allies. There is no official record of their mental techniques, but rumor and hearsay indicate that they are very skilled in mental defense, covert meld interrogations, and have several methods to inure Asari to violence.

Most members of the family are not disposed to open battle, instead preferring the surety of assassinations. It should be noted that _most_ Night Whisperers are members of House T'Laria, or were trained by them.

After the Black Night incident, the technical leader of the House is Trena T'Laria, as she is the only surviving member of the core family. Her self-imposed exile in the wake of the death of her family saw her second-cousin, Matriarch Musio T'Laria, take up the post until Trena could be convinced to return.

* * *

 **Threat Index**

For ease of understanding, I am going to utilize the AIS threat rating system for the various individuals and groups that I am going to outline below. It is a fairly simply ranking, with an N rating followed by the number of teams of that caliber likely required to kill a target with acceptable casualties. For example, our last breach into the AIS servers indicated that you had an N7-1 rating. Meaning that the AIS believes that a single N7 team could kill you without suffering more than 50% casualties.

* * *

 **Name:** Jona Sederis, Mistress of the Eclipse

 **Threat Rating:** N7-X ( _Do Not Engage. Ever.)_

 **Desc:** There is little I can say here. Engaging Jona Sederis in an actual fight is akin to deciding that suicide wasn't enough, you also wanted to be tortured to death before you went out. She is possibly vulnerable to high-powered anti-biotic weaponry and extreme yield explosives, but she has also been recorded as simply powering through standard nullification equipment with nothing more than an expression of annoyance, so I wouldn't wish to be the first to attempt it. If Cerberus does decide to kill her, I recommend nuclear weapons or orbital bombardment from dreadnoughts, just to be sure.

* * *

 **Name:** Ithiri Sederis, Chairwoman of the Eclipse PMC

 **Threat Rating:** N7-7

 **Desc:** While extremely powerful biotically, she has not yet demonstrated the near invincibility of her mother, and is noted to have a temper and enjoys brawling over simply killing her targets. This leaves her more vulnerable to staged engagement plans, and potentially to ambushes. Of the three core members of the Sederis family, she is the most skilled with conventional arms and likely the least hampered by anti-biotic weaponry.

* * *

 **Name:** Leska Sederis, Admiral of the Eclipse

 **Threat Rating:** N7-10

 **Desc:** Any direct attack on Leska _will_ suffer high levels of casualties, even if biotic suppressor technology is heavily utilized. Unlike her mother and sister, she favors killing her targets rapidly and neatly and then moving on to the next, and has no qualms about retreating if she actually feels pressed or is even merely uncertain about a situation. Has very few recorded instances of close range engagements, and may be vulnerable to Vanguard style attackers (most of whom will still likely die, but their odds of taking her down as well are higher than most other options).

* * *

 **Name:** Kallia Toka (Sederis), Retra of the 5th Eclipse

 **Threat Rating:** N6-3

 **Desc:** The eldest of Jona's 'fathered' children (older even than Leska), Kallia commands the 5th Eclipse Army and is the de-facto commander of all Eclipse ground troops on Illium beneath her father. While an expert with most weapons and an extremely capable general, she lacks her half-sisters raw biotic power and is less dangerous in a direct fight.

* * *

 **Name:** Matriarch Desa Rassiel, Mistress of the Morning Eclipse

 **Threat Rating:** N6-2

 **Desc:** While her fighting days are long behind her, Des Rassiel is still an extremely powerful biotic. Proper use of nullification weaponry will ensure that she remains an old woman, but even a minor mistake could lead to numerous casualties.

* * *

 **Name:** Matriarch Musio T'Laria, Supervisor of the Evening Eclipse

 **Threat Rating:** N7-2

 **Desc** : Not known as a straight up fighter, T'Laria is a very skilled assassin and is responsible for training most of the Eclipse's Huntresses and Night Whisperers. If forced into a direct engagement she would likely not be difficult to kill, but any kind of running battle would give her too much time to plot and prepare traps and ambushes.

* * *

 _ **Group:**_ Eclipse Commandos

 **Threat Rating:** N7-1 (per team)

 **Desc:** The greatest threat Eclipse commandos pose is their ability to rapidly shift from offense to defense via flash-steps, and their focus on eliminating a single target via concentrated firepower. Generally equipped with close-range weapons, they are vulnerable to area explosives and anti-biotic weaponry like traditional Republic commandos.

* * *

 _ **Group:**_ Night Whisperers

 **Threat Rating:** N5-1 (per 1 target)

 **Desc:** Night Whisperers are most dangerous when they get the drop on their target, which they unfortunately usually do. Trained in a variety of close range biotic techniques and armed with concealed weapons, they always go for the kill rather than bother taking prisoners. In a straight fight they remain dangerous Asari commandos, but no more so than most others as they almost always operate solo. The largest issue in fighting them is that they always attempt flight if they fail to kill their initial target, and will return with commando reinforcements.

* * *

 _ **Group:**_ Elder Sisters

 **Threat Rating:** N7-1 (per 1 sister)

 **Desc:** Most Elder Sisters are combat veterans to a degree that make the most jaded human seem well adjusted. They are cold, merciless, and exceedingly efficient in killing anything that gets in their way. Their primary weakness is their low numbers, a tendency to over-rely on biotic power, and the fact that they are more often used as bodyguards rather than soldiers.

* * *

 **End Report**

* * *

 _ **Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."**_

 _ **P a treon Zach_K2V**_

 _Thanks, Kat_


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